HT1.V

HUSH

Iri Tri»1

tffe

~ 1 AT, . 1 1 rv.'nyKfci raw

9

M

^M

eH Ei «•»*' -v.-P *4.*» 5kBv-' RsJHI

JSu 1»D& K

'V'T^J h8

:

; « :* i tfK 1
(TED STATES RTMENT OF MMERCE

BUCATION

<°:x

NBS TECHNICAL NOTE 599

"*•$ <**

A Survey of

Selected Document

Processing Systems

U.S.

ARTMENT

OF

OMMERCE

National

Bureau

of

ndards
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS

The National Bureau of Standards1 was established by an act of Congress March 3, 1901. The Bureau's overall goal is to strengthen and advance the Nation's science and

technology and facilitate their effective application for public benefit. To this end, the Bureau conducts research and provides: (1) a basis for the Nation's physical measure- ment system, (2) scientific and technological services for industry and government, (3) a technical basis for equity in trade, and (4) technical services to promote public safety.

The Bureau consists of the Institute for Basic Standards, the Institute for Materials

Research, the Institute for Applied Technology, the Center for Computer Sciences and

Technology, and the Office for Information Programs.

THE INSTITUTE FOR BASIC STANDARDS provides the central basis within the United States of a complete and consistent system of physical measurement; coordinates

that system with measurement systems of other nations; and furnishes essential services leading to accurate and uniform physical measurements throughout the Nation's scientific community, industry, and commerce. The Institute consists of a Center for Radiation Research, an Office of Measurement Services and the following divisions: Applied Mathematics—Electricity—Heat—Mechanics—Optical Physics—Linac

Radiation2—Nuclear Radiation2—Applied Radiation2—Quantum Electronics3—

Electromagnetics3—Time and Frequency3—Laboratory Astrophysics3—Cryogenics3

. THE INSTITUTE FOR MATERIALS RESEARCH conducts materials research lead- ing to improved methods of measurement, standards, and data on the properties of

well-characterized materials needed by industry, commerce, educational institutions, and

Government; provides advisory and research services to other Government agencies;

and develops, produces, and distributes standard reference materials. The Institute consists of the Office of Standard Reference Materials and the following divisions: Analytical Chemistry—Polymers—Metallurgy—Inorganic Materials—Reactor

Radiation—Physical Chemistry.

THE INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED TECHNOLOGY provides technical services to pro- mote the use of available technology and to facilitate technological innovation in industry and Government; cooperates with public and private organizations leading to the development of technological standards (including mandatory safety standards), codes

and methods of test; and provides technical advice and services to Government agencies

upon request. The Institute also monitors NBS engineering standards activities and

provides liaison between NBS and national and international engineering standards

bodies. The Institute consists of the following technical divisions and offices: Engineering Standards Services—Weights and Measures—Flammable Fabrics

Invention and Innovation—Vehicle Systems Research—Product Evaluation

Technology—Building Research—Electronic Technology—Technical Analysis

Measurement Engineering.

THE CENTER FOR COMPUTER SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY conducts re- search and provides technical services designed to aid Government agencies in improving cost effectiveness in the conduct of their programs through the selection, acquisition,

and effective utilization of automatic data processing equipment; and serves as the principal focus within the executive branch for the development of Federal standards for automatic data processing equipment, techniques, and computer languages. The Center

consists of the following offices and divisions: Information Processing Standards—Computer Information—Computer Services —Systems Development—Information Processing Technology.

THE OFFICE FOR INFORMATION PROGRAMS promotes optimum dissemination

and accessibility of scientific information generated within NBS and other agencies of

the Federal Government; promotes the development of the National Standard Reference

Data System and a system of information analysis centers dealing with the broader

aspects of the National Measurement System; provides appropriate services to ensure

that the NBS staff has optimum accessibility to the scientific information of the world,

and directs the public information activities of the Bureau. The Office consists of the following organizational units: Office of Standard Reference Data—Office of Technical Information and

Publications—Library—Office of Public Information—Office of International

Relations.

1 Headquarters and Laboratories at Gaithersburg, Maryland, unless otherwise noted; mailing address Washington, DC. 20234.

2 Part of the Center for Radiation Research.

3 Located at Boulder, Colorado 80302.
NOV 5 J971

u s

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Maurice H. Stans, Secretary

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS • Lewis M. Branscomb, Director

fj ~ <4iff!ttfc> TECHNICAL NOTE 599

ISSUED OCTOBER 1971

Nat. Bur. Stand. (U.S.), Tech. Note 599, 67 pages (October 1971)

CODEN: NBTNA

A Survey of Selected Document Processing Systems

Elizabeth Fong

Systems Development Division

Center for Computer Sciences and Technology

National Bureau of Standards

Washington, D.C. 20234

NBS Technical Notes are designed to supplement the Bureau's regular publications program. They provide a means for making available scientific data that are of transient or limited interest. Technical Notes may be

listed or referred to in the open literature.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C, 20402.

(Order by SD Catalog No. C 13.46:599). Price 65 cents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction 1

II. Classification of a Document Processing System 3 III. Functional Components of a Document Processing System . . . 4

A. Operating Environment 4

B. System Inputs 5

C. The Central System 5

D. System Outputs ^ . . . 6

IV. Overviews of the Systems 6

A. CIRCOL 6

B. DDC . 7

C. ITIRC 8 D. Mead Data Central 8

E. MEDLARS II 9

F. The New York Times Information Bank 10

G. ORBIT II 10

H. RECON/STIMS 11

V. Feature List 11

VI. Conclusions 16

VII. Acknowledgements 17

VIII. References 18

Appendix I - Summary Chart 19

Appendix II - Detailed System Descriptions .20

CIRCOL 21

DDC Information System 29

ITIRC 34

Mead Data Central 39

MEDLARS II 44

New York Times Information Bank 50

ORBIT II 54

RECON/STIM 61

li
A SURVEY OF SELECTED DOCUMENT PROCESSING SYSTEMS*

Elizabeth Fong

There are many document processing systems that are commercially available or government-owned. These systems

emerged in the evolution from early efforts in library automation to current on-line systems. Due to the diverse nature

of the facilities provided in the document processing systems,

it is difficult to evaluate them. The purpose of this paper

is to present a list of features as a set of dimensions along

which to compare the surveyed systems. The feature list is

also developed to serve as a common basis for describing

document processing systems. Another purpose of this paper

is to provide a reference tool for the eight systems surveyed.

They are CIRCOL, DDC, ITIRC, The Mead Data Central, MEDLARS

II, New York Times Information Bank, ORBIT II, and RECON/STIM.

This paper first explores the characteristics of available,

large document processing systems in general. An overview

of the eight systems surveyed is presented. The paper then

defines the feature list. The description of the eight

systems surveyed according to the feature list outline is

included as an Appendix.

Key words: Bibliographic system; computer package; data

base; document processing; information retrieval; document

'storage and retrieval; text processing.

I. INTRODUCTION

Document processing syztems, sometimes referred to as document

storage and retrieval systems, are computer-based systems that perform

the function of a library, technical information center, or filing

cabinet. Berul [1] defines a document processing system as a system

that searches a collection of documents and delivers the documents or

references most likely to be relevant. Question-answering or fact

retrieval systems generate a direct answer in response to search

request, as opposed to a document processing system which normally

generates a list of references to a data base. It is a very specialized

form of data management system in which the data structure contains

items such as author name, title, publisher name, descriptive keywords,

and possibly an abstract or full-text.

* CERTAIN COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS ARE IDENTIFIED IN THIS PAPER IN

ORDER ADEQUATELY TO SPECIFY THE SYSTEMS BEING DESCRIBED. IN NO CASE

DOES SUCH IDENTIFICATION IMPLY RECOMMENDATION OR ENDORSEMENT BY THE

NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS, NOR DOES IT IMPLY THAT THESE SYSTEMS

ARE NECESSARILY THE BEST FOR THE PURPOSE.

Figures in brackets refer to the literature references on page 18,

1
The advent of time-sharing systems has made it possible to create

automatic information handling systems that combine many of the services

provided by standard library and documentation centers, with direct user

participation in the search and retrieval process. Some systems also

make it possible for the user to interact directly with the systems

during the search and retrieval process. These on-line systems vary in

their capability depending on the services provided and on the equipment

available. Some systems, designed to be browsing tools, operate with the

full text of documents displayed on a screen, while other systems store

only bibliographic citations and possibly keywords.

Eight large-scale, operational or near-operational systems that are commercially available or government-owned were surveyed. Two systems

were developed without a specific client. They are:

(1) The Mead Data Central developed by the Mead Data Corporation.

Note: This system was originally known as DATA CENTRAL.

(2) On-Line Retrieval Bibliographic Information Transfer (ORBIT)

developed by System Development Corporation.

Six other systems were developed for a specific application and

client. They are:

(3) The Central Information Reference £ Control On-line (CIRCOL)

developed by the Foreign Technology Division, Air Force Systems

Command.

Note: The nucleus of this system is the Document Processor

System (DPS) developed by IBM.

(4) Defence Documentation Center Information System (DDC) developed

by the Defense Documentation Center.

(5) IBM Technical Information Retrieval Center (ITIRC) developed by

IBM's Technical Information Retrieval Center.

(6) Medical Literature Analysis £ Retrieval System (MEDLARS II)

being developed by the Computer Science Corporation for the

National Library of Medicine.

(7) The New York Times Information Bank (New York Times) being

developed by IBM's Federal Systems Division for the New York

Times.

(8) RECON/STIM developed by the Lockheed Missiles and Space Company

for NASA.

Note: A nearly identical but proprietary version of this system

is called DIALOG.
There are several experimental document processing systems operating

with stored bibliographic citations. BOLD (Bibliographic On-Line Diaplay)

[2] and TIP (Technical Information Project) [3] are examples. Another

research project called INTREX (Information Transfer Experiment) [4] is

currently under development at MIT. SMART (Salton's Magical Automatic

Retrieval Technique) [5] is a fully automatic document processing

system, capable of processing search requests in English and retrieving

those documents most nearly similar to the search request. SMART can

also be used for the evaluation of the effectiveness of different search

methods. There are three on-line systems designed with emphasis on

user orientation: AIM-TWX (Abridged Index Medicus-TWX) operated by the

Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communication of the National

Library of Medicine, BASIS - 70 (Battelle Automated Search Information

System) developed at Battelles Columbus Laboratories, and SUNY (The

State University of New York Biomedical Communication Network) developed

by The State University of New York. No literatures on these systems

exist except for some studies and plannings which preceded the actual

documentation of the system. There are also bibliographic systems

built by organizations for their own internal use. These systems are not included in this survey because they are not commercially available.

The purpose of this report is to present features of the systems

in parallel fashion to facilitate comparison so that a potential user

may have a basis for evaluation in terms of the capabilities which his

requirements demand.

II. CLASSIFICATION OF A DOCUMENT PROCESSING SYSTEM

Document processing systems may be classified into two types in

terms of their data base organization. First is the full-text type

where the data base consists of the entire contents of the original

documents; and second is the citation record type where the data base

consists of formatted records containing author, title, descriptors,

and other indices, and possibly some textual material. With the first

type of organization, the document is readily available for browsing

purposes, and every word is searchable; however, the space consumed

is always much greater than in the second type. However, a full—text

system could be set up as having retrievable segments, such as author,

title, abstract number, etc. Not only all words in the abstract and

title but all index terms are included on an inverted file. In this

respect, the full-text system provides more flesibility in record

structuring

.
For the citation record organization the significant step is

indexing against a vocabulary or a thesarus, because subsequent retrieval

activities depend, to a large measure, upon the depth and accuracy of

the indexing. Indexing is generally performed by a human who is specially

trained in a particular subject area. Recently, much research effort

has been done on automatic indexing by computer [6]. For the citation

record type of organization, the full-text of the document is generally

photographed and stored in microform for manual or mechanical retrieval.

Any generalized data management system may be used for document processing with citation record type of organization. There is limited or

sometimes no text processing capability and search terms are limited to

only those that exists in the inverted file.

III. FUNCTIONAL COMPONENTS OF A DOCUMENT PROCESSING SYSTEM

A typical system can always be divided into three parts: the

system input, the system itself, and the system output. The total

system also has an operating system interface. A variety of ways of

implementation exist as discussed below in the context of the systems

surveyed.

()perating System Interface

Central

System

Input

System

Output

System

A. Operating Environment

The operating environment consists of the specific computer system

in which the document processing system will run. This includes hardware (the central processor plus the input/output devices and secondary

storage devices) and software ("operating system" or "executive program"

and interface program). The interface program is usually very much

dependent on the mcahine configuration and the operating system.
B. System Inputs

The initial system input operation is the preparation of the data

which will make up the data base. If the system is of the citation

record type, then the next operation is the indexing of the documents

and the creation of the citation records. Depending on the equipment

available, some systems (e.g. , New York Times) have on-line data entry

with the indexer entering the data on a keyboard. The indexer uses a

CRT to view the thesaurus or old documents in the system for cross- referencing purposes, and then constructs a record in a temporary work

file. The above indexing procedure is sometimes called "machineaided indexing" or "computer-assisted indexing". Other systems (e.g.,

CIRCOL) prepare the data input off-line and enter it into the system

in the batch mode. A data definition language may exist (e.g.

,

RECON/STIMS), enabling the system to be generalized for different

applications

.

At maintenance time, input in the form of update commands is needed.

At the present time, the update is usually considered as a system function and the language is not user-oriented. A system analyst formulates

the updates which are then usually run as a batch mode job. Some

systems (e.g., MEAD Data Central and RECON/STIMS) allow updating in the

background while searches are being conducted in the foreground. The

user is cautioned against such practice since the file needed for

searching may be "locked-up" while updating.

At retrieval time, input in the form of queries is entered into the

system. For an on-line system, the query language is the major user

language where simple yet powerful commands are stressed. A query

language generally consists of commands made up of terms connected by

Boolean operators and qualifiers.

A report generation time, output requirements are entered into

the system. Most systems (e.g. , CIRCOL and DDC) do not have a separate

output report language but contain some options in the query language

for specifying output requests. Some systems (e.g., Mead Data Central

and ITIRC) provide user program linkages via code numbers whereby a

user may write his own programs to format output reports.

C. The Central System

The major functions of the central system are to process user

requests and to perform storage and retrieval of the data in the files.

Factors such as file organization, search strategy, data accessing

methods, type of peripheral equipment, internal representation of

documents , sophistication of query language , etc . , all affect the

performance of the system. For tape systems (e.g., ITIRC), master

records are organized sequentially. In order to facilitate a search,

inverted files consisting of search words are set up.
ITIRC generates a separate tape file sorted according to word length.

For the disk-oriented systems (e.g. , Mead Data Central and CIRCOL),

there exist dictionaries containing direct disk addresses. Mead

Data Central maintains a range directory and a cascade type of search

is conducted. CIRCOL' s dictionary is sorted and a binary search is

performed.

D. The System Outputs

The major functions of the system output are to prepare and display

output reports. For most of the on-line systems, off-line outputs are

available with the user specifying the output format. Some document

processing systems (e.g., DDC, ITIRC and MEDLARS II) print out standard

announcements or abstract bulletins at regular intervals. Some systems

(e.g., RECON/STIMS) have a selective dissemination of information

(S.D.I.) service by storing users' interest profiles, and -the system

outputs current items of relevant information within only those

documents that match a user's interests. Some systems (e.g.,

RECON/STIMS) print out statistical information, for example the number

of times a particular reference is retrieved.

IV. Overviews of the Systems

A prose description of each of the eight system surveyed is

presented. Each description includes the identification of the system

and its highlights. For detailed descriptions itemized under a feature

list heading, the reader is referred to the Appendix II.

A. CIRCOL

CIRCOL (Central Information Reference and Control On-Line) exists

as a specific implementation of a general teleprocessing - document

processing system developed by the Foreign Technology Division, Air

Force System Command. This system provides users with the capability

to retrieve bibliographic and textual information from a large, user

defined, computer stored data base. The CIRCOL data base is specifically designed to provide intelligence analysts with scientific and

technical references of intelligence significance.

The CIRCOL system is a dynamic program structure consisting of

three main modules: the system control program (PHENIX); the teleprocessing program (TP); and a modified version of IBM's 360 Document

Processing System (DPS). DPS is a program package for processing un- formatted textual information and runs under the IBM 360 Operating

System (OS). TP, implemented under OS/ 360 release 18.6 with MVT, provides the on-line interface between DPS and the remote terminal user,

and controls the execution of DPS.
The accumulation and processing of a data base query begins with

TP which accepts search lines entered at a remote terminal and offers

some acknowledgement of transmission to the terminal operator. TP

uses these search lines to build an acceptable query for DPS. When

the query has been completed, TP brings a copy of DPS into main storage

and passes it to the query via the ATTACH feature of MVT. At this

point, TP remains available to other terminals in the system while

DPS gains control and interrogates the data base. Once the search has

been evaluated, DPS returns control and any resulting output to TP

(effectively removing itself from main storage) which then prints the

resulting document information in a user controlled format on and/or

off-line. DPS is not reenterable; however, up to three separate

copies may be brought into main storage as needed so that three con- current retrievals can be active. When the number of retrieval

requests (completed queries) exceeds three at any one time, they

are queried on a first-in first-out basis.

Error recovery procedures are provided by the system control

program PHENIX which initiates and controls the execution of TP via

the ATTACH feature of MVT. Under this system of varying levels of

control, abnormal termination of DPS will not affect TP and abnormal

termination of TP will not affect PHENIX. Thus, the system can be

automatically restarted from the PHENIX level without human

intervention

.

B. DDC Information System

The Defense Documentation Center Information System may be regarded

as an integrated system embodying several data bases. These data bases

were developed since 1960 as parts of batch-oriented systems. DDC is

developing an integrated on-line capability on the UNIVAC 1108 under EXEC

8. The data bases are:

Technical Report System (DD1U73)

Work Unit Information System (DD1498)

Project Planning System (DD1634)

Contractor Performance £ Evaluation System

Independent Research £ Development System

The DDC On-line Information System utilize the above data bases.

The prototype version is running. A major characteristic of the DDC

On-line Information System is the front-end IPS (Text Processing

System) as a data input. The TPS is interfaced via a Communication

Terminal Module Control (CTMC) to EXEC 8 on the UNIVAC 1108 computer.

Each CTMC unit will support up to 32 terminals. Another feature is

the tutorial nature of the query languace. The computer guides the

user at each step of query formation with a list of the available options .
This prototype On-line Information System is currently being evaluated. Internal expansion of the system to "fully automate Agency operation

is under consideration. Future developments may include integrated software for multi data banks, full-text system, machine-aided indexing,

machine-generated theasurus and many others.

C. ITIRC

IBM's Technical Information Retrieval Center (ITIRC) operates an

information retrieval system for searching normal text using a collection

of programs called TEXT-PAC. TEXT-PAC consists of 30 programs written

in Basic Assembly Language (BAL). The system requires an IBM/ 360 Model

40 or higher, using OS/ 360 MVT or MFT. Operation is in batch mode.

ITIRC has two major capabilities: the selective dissemination of

information (IBM calls it current information selections (CIS)) aad

retrospective search. The source of inputs to the data file are engineering reports , patent applications 5 education materials , etc

.

These documents, after being coded and transcribed into machinereadable form, are entered into the computer. The machine does editing,

formatting and proofing, and it outputs a text tape (for print purposes)

and a search tape (sorted according to word length) for CIS and retrospective searching purposes. Besides these two tapes, there is also a

third tape called OMAHA containing statistical information such as word frequency and spelling list.

CIS — The ITIRC system provides subscribers, on a weekly basis,

with selective notification of new data entering the system. The user

fills out a CIS data sheet. Besides supplying some personal identifying data, he is encouraged to enter as many concepts as he thinks pertinent. The raw interest profile is converted to a machine-readable

profile by a specialist and is entered into logical tables and processed against the search tape. Coincidences Chits') are then sorted

and collected and mailed to the user.

Retrospective Searching — When the system user wants information

from the complete file, an information retrieval specialist assists

him by formulating queries to search the computerized file of abstracts.

The retrospective search program selects those abstracts that match the

search terms specified by the inquirer. The system output options

allow selective printing of any paragraphs.

D. Mead Data Central

Mead Data Central is a generalized full-text information system

developed by Mead Data Central, Incorporated. The system is capable

of processing structured and unstructured data in an on-line conversational mode.
The main characteristic of this system is that it automatically

takes every word (not on a "stop word" list which is predefined by the

user) and arithmetic value in the file and places it in an inverted

file in alphanumeric order, making it a searchable component of the

data base. Associated with each component is a series of information

strings such as relative position, security classification, and

maintenance information. With this method, every word or value in the

data base is searchable. There exists a "range directory" residing on

direct access storage devices (DASD) , and the component to be searched

is first matched to obtain a pointer to the actual data location. The

data themselves are in two forms. The serial file consists of a variable block length character string plus header information. The

inverted file consists of the component followed by the associated

information strings. Once the pointer is obtained for a query component,

access is made to the DASD for sequential search.

The query language is used in a dialogue with the computer which

allows dynamic modification of the query. It provides for concurrent

search of both specifiable fields and free text. By virtue of the

systems knowledge of word position in the sentence, the system also has

a distance searching capability that makes it possible to search for the

occurrence of two words within some number of words of each other.

Mead Data Central is the only system that provides the "KWIC-IT"

option which uses colors to highlight the "hit" words of phrases. The

Model CO30 terminal provides four colors for output display. As used

with the Mead Data Central System, an output record as displayed may

show field designator in green. Successful matchings of selection

criteria in red, ten significant words before and after the "hit" word

or phrase in yellow, and all other information in blue. Such an output

option facilitates browsing through the file.

E. MEDLARS II

The Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLARS) is

a mechanized bibliographic processing system. The first system, MEDLARS

I, was developed by the General Electric Information Systems Division

in 1964 and operated on a Honeywell 200-800 computer. It is a tape

system. The system generates the monthly Index Medicus and the annual

Cumulated Index Medicus for the National Library of Medicine. The

system also performs demand searches. The second system, MEDLARS II,

which is an improved version of MEDLARS I, is being designed by the

Computer Science Corp.

MEDLARS II 's detailed implementation is not' yet final and little

information is available at this time. NLM plans two versions of MEDLARS

II, the initial system which will be available by the end of 1971, and the

extended MEDLARS II. The main difference between initial MEDLARS II and

the extended MEDLARS II is that the extended version will be an on-line

system. Only the initial MEDLARS II is being reported on.
The initial MEDLARS II is implemented on IBM 360/50 with randomaccess disks. The data base is extended beyond that of MEDLARS I,

MEDLARS II increases the capability in the areas of search parameters,

bibliography, support of library functions, and it automatically maintains the vocabulary. One of the significant additions to the system

is a data management module to facilitate handling of data and to provide a data description language which permits compilation to produce a

table and a set of intermediate codes defining the file structures.

F. The New York Times Information Bank

The New York Times Information Bank, expected to be operational

in the Spring 1971, will enable The New York Times to make Its vast

information files easily accessible to the general public.

The data base consists of abstracts and citations of articles in

the New York Times and selected material fromover 60 other newspapers

and periodicals. Actual clippings are mounted on paper and will be

photographed at a reduction ratio of 25 to 1 and stored on 4" x 6"

microfiche which will "hold 99 images each. Within the New York Times

building, the fiche will be stored in a Foto-Mem RISAR, a microfiche

storage and retrieval device interfaced with the computer. The

abstracts and citations will be entered by trained indexer-abstracters

working at video terminals. The abstracts, terms, and other searchable

elements will be entered into a temporary work file stored on disk.

After the records are verified by a supervisor, a 'release' code will

be applied and the records entered into the master file.

Inquirers will use video or typewriter terminals to enter queries

consisting of descriptors connected by logical operators. The thesaurus

and other user aids will be accessible to browsing via dialogue with the

system. The outputs will be the abstracts of the documents with full

citations, including the address of the associated clipping on microfiche. If the retrieval is within The New York Times Building, then

the fiche may be viewed on the same terminal that was used for

inquiries. Outside The New York -Times, fiche storage, retrieval, and

viewing will be manual. Master file updating is done every night in

batch mode.

G. ORBIT II

ORBIT II (On-line Retrieval Bibliographic Information Transfer)

is a bibliographic data storage and retrieval system developed by

Systems Development Corp. which uses citations rather than full text.

The system evolved from a batch system for intelligence purposes into

an on-line, generalized system. There is a version called ORBIT II

which operates under SDC's Time- Shared Executive program. The current

version of ORBIT 'II operates under IBM OS/ 360.

10
The main characteristics of ORBIT II are its ability to handle

very large files (more than 100,000 records) and to support a large

number (more than 150) of on-line users concurrently. The system

also has many tutorial features accessible via "EXPLAIN" and "?".

The package consists of two parts coded in PL/1: the file

generation part, and the search and retrieval part. It is a proprietary

system and little information is available on the internal file organization and the search strategies.

H. RECON/STIMS

The NASA information storage and retrieval process consists of

two systems: RECON and STIMS. the RECON (REmote CONsole) system

was developed by Lockheed for NASA to provide an on-line, conversational, retrieval access to the files produced and maintained by STIMS.

STIMS (Scientific and Technical Information Modular System) was developed

by Informatics TISCO for NASA to provide a batch processing file maintenance, search, and publications function.

The RECON/STIMS system is an information system capable of storing

and retrieving scientific and technical documents. It runs on the IBM

System 360 Model 50 or larger under OS/MPT II. The documents are

manually indexed against the NASA thesaurus. These indexes are also

tagged as being either of major or minor importance. When data enters

into the batch input mode, the main file, which is called a linear

file, and inverted files on indicated fields are constructed or updated.

In the on-line mode it is only possible to post queries by using

inverted index terms. However, in the batch mode one may search on any

field in the record.

The system is also capable of doing SDI by limiting the search in

a small accession number range or by generating a new inverted file for

new documents and searching on it.

V. FEATURE LIST

There have been many attempts to develop a feature list which

would characterize a generalized data management system e.g., [7j, [8].

The same feature list would probably describe in part a document processing system. The purpose in developing the following feature list

is to provide a checklist with short answers, thus avoiding long essay

descriptions of each item. The feature list has the following major

headings

:

1. General Information - The non-technical details about the

described system.

2. Operational Environment - The hardware configuation and the

software restrictions imposed on the system.

11
3. Software Features - The facilities provided by the system.

4

.

User Interface - Various languages provided in order for the user

to communicate with the system.

5. Internal Organization - The representation of information on a

storage media.

6. Operational Functions - The functions and practices of the described

system during execution.

The above major headings are further divided into sub-headings.

There is no importance attached to the ordering. The following is the

feature list headings and sub-headings with an explanation of each

item.

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 System Name — The name of the system in full as well as its

acronym.

1.2 Source — The name of the system originator or developer.

1 .

3

Plans for Maintenance S Improvement — Planned extensions and

type of maintenance to the system.

l.M- Type of Support — The amount and type of supporting services

provided by the system originator.

1.

5

Availability — Is the system in operation?

1.6 Cost — The cost of the software if commercially sold or cost for

hookup time if not sold.

1.7 User Population — Names of organizations that are using the system.

1.8 Source Language — The language in which the system is written.

1 .

9

Proprietary Software — Is the software proprietary?

1.10 Documentation — Any system manuals, operation manuals, or other

formal documentation available on the system.

2. OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

2.1 Hardware (minimum configuration) — This section consists mainly

of the hardware configurations and the software restrictions

imposed on the system.

2.1.1 Main Frame — The name of the computer and its model number.

12
2.1.2 Input Devices — cardreader, keyboard, etc.

2.1.3 Output Devices — printer, CRT etc.

2.1.M- Mass Storage Devices — tape, drum, disk, data cell, etc.

2.1.5 Document Storage Devices — microfiche, microfilm, etc.

2.1.6 Communication Equipment — teletypewriter, CRT, etc.

2.1. 7 Core Size — Minimum core memory size to run the system.

2.2 Operating System Version — Name of the operating system.

2.2.1 Mode of Use — batch or on-line, etc.

3. SOFTWARE FEATURES

3.1 Operating System Environment — Any requirements on the operating

system.

3.2 Transferability between Hardware — Is it feasible to transfer the

described system to other hardware?

3 .

3

Transferability between Operating Systems — Is it feasible to

transfer the described system to other operating systems?

3.M- Type of Security — System security includes both the hardware

security and software security via keys or passwords. Levels of

security against accessing the data or against modifying the data

are also mentioned.

3 .

5

Back-up Facility — Whether the described system has a data back-up

facility and if so, on what media. Back-up facility is sometimes

provided by having a twin computer take over.

3.6 Restart £ Recovery Capability — The capability of the described

system to recover and restart.

3.7 System Statistics — Any form of statistical information that the

described system is capable of generating.

3.8 Selective Dissemination of Inforamtion — Whether the system has

S.D.I, functions

.

3 .

9

Indexing — Does the system require indexing, and if so, what are

the indexing procedures.

13
3.10 Thesaurus — Whether the system has a thesaurus , and if so , what

is the structure of the Thesaurus.

3.11 Input Data Editing and Validation — The amount of checking performed on the input data.

3.12 Linkage to User's Code — Whether the described system provides

linkages such that user may write his particular application

programs in assembly language, COBOL, FORTRAN, etc.

3.13 Special Feature — Any special features that the system has

.

4. USER INTERFACE

M-.l Data Description Language — Whether the system allows the user

to describe his own data.

M- . 2 Query Language — Some highlights of the query language.

Devices — Cardreader, teletypewriter, etc.

Language Type — Procedural, near English, command type, etc.

Arithmetic Capability — Whether arithmatic capability exists

,

and if so, what kind.

Boolean Logic for Selection — Type of logical connectors.

Selection via Ranges of Values — Type of arithmetic ranges and

limits allowed.

Invocation of Predefined Queries — Whether the queries may be

saved and invoked at a later date.

Sample — A sample of the query language, if available.

M-. 3 Output Report Language — The mechanism for generating reports.

Device — printer, teletypewriter, etc.

Language Type — Procedural, same as query language, etc.

Prestored Format — Is there the capability for storing frequently

used output reports formats, and if so, how and when may such

facilities be invoked.

14
On-line of Off-line Print Command — For an on-line system, whether

off-line printing is available.

Sort Specification — At. reporting time, whether sorting facilities

are available.

Special Features Specification — Any other features which may be

specified at reporting time.

Sample — A sample of the output report language, if available.

M-.M- Maintenance & Update Language — The procedure for updating.

Devices — Cardreader, teletypewriter, etc .

Language Type — Procedural, same as query language, etc.

Lockout Facility if On-line — If updating is done on-line, the

facilities for preventing simultaneous accesses of data.

Sample — A sample of maintenance and update language, if available.

M-.5 Browse Language — Whether the full text or abstract is available

to look over casually in order to select one to read.

5. INTERNAL ORGANIZATION

5.1 Data Base — The logical nature of the files within the data base

as the user sees it.

5 2 Data Structure — The data as they are seen by the user. Does the

data structure consist of hierarchical levels, repeating groups,

fixed and/or variable length records, etc?

5 . 3 Storage Structure — The organization of the data within a stored

entry. Does the system maintain inverted lists, directories with

pointers , etc?

6. OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS — The functions and practices of the described system during execution.

6.1 Data Access Method — The way the stored data are accessed. It

may be serial because the system uses tapes as its mass storage,

or it may be random, because the system uses disk or drum. It

may also be a combination of the above two methods.

15
6.2 Search Strategies — The search strategies are related to the mass

storage devices used and to the organization of" the data. Any

tricks or search optimizations are described here.

6 .

3

Update Facilities — The update procedures and requirements imposed

upon the software package by the practices of the system installation.

6.14 Time

6.U.1 Search Response — If the system is on-line, the response

time is critical. This item is difficult to assess since it

is dependent on many factors, such as the way in which the

system handles multi-programming, the number of terminals

running simultaneously at that time, the size of the data

base, the complexity of the queries, etc. An estimate is

given if available.

6 . j4 . 2 Update Time — This item is difficult to assess since it

is usually dependent on the size of data base, and the amount

of data to be updated. Also the time may increase if the update involves a major reorganization of the files. An

estimate is given if available.

6 . 5 Space — The amount of space devoted to the main file, inverted

lists, and the ratio between the two. This item is very

difficult to get because the size is usually growing so fast

that even the system programmer in charge cannot keep track

of it. Another factor is that the system may not be completely

operational and therefore no studies have been made on this

aspect.

VI. CONCLUSIONS

In this paper we have reviewed the characteristics of document

processing systems. In addition, considerable attention has been paid

to the description of a system via a feature list approach.

The state-of-the-art in on-line document processing systems has

been moving very rapidly. The software progress in data base management,

heuristic programming, automatic abstracting and indexing and also the

hardware progress in front-end computers, optical character recognition

devices , on-line data entry devices , etc . , all have played a part

.

16
The problem of system performance evaluation is not considered here

because we still lack the tools in information science to determine precise performance measurements. Even if the desired measurements are hypothesized, there remains the interesting and difficult problem of

quantifying system response. But I believe that this work has taken

one step forward in analyzing a software product in terms of its

component capabilities.

VII. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my appreciation to the following persons

for devoting their time in reading and reviewing their respective

sections

:

The System Groups of ENMP for CIRCOL

Mr. J. Powers for DDC

Mr. W. E. Brooks, Jr. for ITIRC

Mr. M. Bayer for Mead Data Central

Mr. J. Walden for MEDLARS II

Mr. B. Falk for the New York Times

Mr. C. Cuadra for ORBIT

Mr. L. Stevens for RECON/STIMS

I wish to thank Dr. Stephen J. Tauber, Mr. Daniel Minnick and

Dr. Selden Stewart of NBS for reading earlier versions of this paper

and for making valuable suggestions.

DISCLAIMER

All of these systems are changing, and this survey covers system

capabilities up to the end of 1970. Every effort has been made to

ensure the accuracy of the information contained in the system description. The writer assumes responsibility for any errors or misinterpretations which have entered the descriptions. Short answers to system

features are given and the readers are requested to refer to the

originator's source documents or manuals for more detailed descriptions.

17
VIII. REFERENCES

[1] Berul, L. H. : Document Retrieval , in Cuadra, C. (ed. ) "Annual

Review of Information Science and Technology," Vol. M-, Encyclopedia

Britanica , Inc . , Chicago , 1969.

[2] Burnaugh, H.P. : The BOLD (Bibliographic On-line Display) System , in Schecter, G. (ed. ) "Information Retrieval — A Critical View,"

Thompson Book Co., Washington, D.C. , 1967.

[3] Mathews, W. D. : The TIP Retrieval System at MIT , in Schecter, G.

(ed. ) "Information Retrieval — A Critical View" Thompson Book

Co., Washington, D.C, 1967.

[4] Overhage, C. F. J.: Plans for Project Intrex , Scinece, Col. 152,

No. 3725, (May, 1966).

[5] Salton, G. : Automatic Information Organization and Retrieval , McGraw-Hill, New York, 1968.

[6] Stevens, M. E. : Problems of Evaluation, in Automatic Indexing : A State-of-the-Art Report , NBS Monograph 91, Washington, D.C,

March 30, 1965, 143-163.

[7] CODASYL System Committee: A Survey of Generalized Data Management

Systems , CODASYL Systems Committee, technical report, May 1969.

[8] Fry, J. et.al.: Data Management System Survey , MTP-329, Mitre

Corp., McLean, Virginia, Jan. 1969 (AD-684707).

18
APPENDIX I

Summary Chart

System

Name System

Originator

Computer and

Operating System

Full-text or Citation type

on-line or batch

CIRCOL Foreign Technology

Division, Air Force System Command

,

Wright-Patterson, Ohio

IBM 360/65

OS/MVT

Citation on-line

DDC Information

System

Defense Documentation

Center, Cameron

Station, Alexandria

Virginia

UNIVAC 1108 EXEC 8 Citation on-line

(prototype)

ITIRC IBM Technical

Information Retrieval

Center , White Plains

New York

IBM 360/40

OS/MVT or MFT full -text batch

Mead Data CentralMead Data

Central, Inc. IBM 360/40DOS or OS full-text on-line

MEDLARS II Computer Science

Corporation for

National Library of

Medicine

IBM 360/50

OS/MVT

Citation batch

New York Times

Information Bank

IBM, Federal

System Division

for New York

Times

IBM 360/50

DOS Citation batch

ORBIT System Development

Corportion

,

Santa Monica, California

IBM 360/40

OS/MVT or MFT Citation on-line

RE CON /ST I

M

RECON written by

Lockhead Missile £ Space Co and STIM written by

Informatics TISCO, for NASA

IBM 360/50

OS/MFT II Citation on-line

19
APPENDIX II

DETAILED SYSTEM DESCRIPTIONS

The following are detailed notes on the document processing

systems surveyed. Each of the systems is described in terms of

the feature list presented above. Information not known to the

writer is marked "unknown". The information was obtained through

verbal briefings from the system representatives of that particular

document processing system and from manuals, if available. Each

section has been reviewed by the respective system representatives.

All of these systems are changing, and this survey covers system

capabilities up to the end of 1970. The writer assumes responsibility

for any errors which have entered the descriptions; she would be

pleased to be informed of corrections or additions.

20
CIRCOL

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 System Name — CIRCOL (Central Information Reference and Control

On- Line).

1 .

2

Source — Foreign Technology Division , Air Force System Command

,

Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

1.

3

Plans for Improvement — FID plans to improve the overall CIRCOL

system performance by taking every possible advantage of IBM 360

hardware/ software advances.

l.M- Type of Support — FTD consultation.

1.5 Availability — Yes.

1.

6

Cost — Government owned and free to other government agencies.

1.7 User Population — Air Force System Command Headquarters, Medical

Intelligence Office, Harry Diamond Labs, Rome Air Development

Center, Military Intelligence Agency (Redstone Arsenal), Defense

Intelligence Agency, National Library of Medicine, Oceanographer of

the Navy, Air Force System Command Divisions.

1 .

8

Source Language — Assembly Language.

1.9 Proprietary Software — No.

1 . 10 Documentation — CIRCOL User ' s Guide , system documentation not

complete.

2. OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

2.1 Hardware (minimum configuration)

2.1.1 Main Frame — IBM 360 or 370 system which will support OS MVT.

2.1.2 Input Devices — Teletypewriter, (IBM 2741 and IBM 27U0).

Data phone (AT&T or WU teletype models 33 and 35).

2.1.3 Output Devices — Printer or terminals.

21
CIRCOL (Continued)

2.1.4 Mass Storage Devices — Disk and/or data cells.

2.1. 5 Document Storage Devices — Microfiche (manually retrieved).

2.1.6 Communication Equipment — Same as input devices.

2.1.7 Core Size — 66K bytes for PHENIX - TP. 50 K bytes for each

copy of DPS.

2.2 Operating System Version — 360 OS with MVT.

2.2.1 Mode of Use — On-line query and batch file maintenance.

Off-line retrieval of queries entered on-line.

3. SOFTWARE FEATURES

3.1 Operating System Environment — IBM 360 Operating System with MVT.

3 .

2

Transferability between Hardware — IBM 360 or 370.

3 .

3

Transferability between Operating Systems — Within OS/360 MVT.

(will run under release 19 or later MET)

7

3.M- Type of Security — Password associated with each terminal.

3 .

5

Back-up Facility — Tape back-up of program and data base.

3 .

6

Restart £ Recovery Capability — Dynamic program structure allows

for automatic restart of TP by PHENIX module. Searches in progress

and partially accumulated queries are lost. DPS abnormal terminations mean only that the query in question cannot be evaluated,

other users are not effected.

3 .

7

System Statistics — User Activity Report (search times and number

of documents retrieved).

3.8 Selective Dissemination of Information — No, they hope to include

this feature in the future.

3 .

9

Indexing — Yes, indexing is computer-assisted with the system

checking the input words against a controlled vocabulary.

22
CIRCOL (Continued)

3.10 Thesaurus — There is no thesaurus, but the system has a controlled

vocabulary file on disk. (Dictionary words can be listed)

.

3.11 Input Data Editing and Validation — Yes, this is done in the

preprocessor (Data Preparation Program)

.

3.12 Linkage to User Code — No.

4. USER INTERFACE

4.1 Data Description Language — The facility furnished with IBM's

DPS is used - Data Base Description.

M- . 2 Query Language — It is conversational consisting of question, and

acknowledgment. The query is accomplished in six parts:

(1) Identification of the user.

(2) Identification of the application desired (DPS).

(3) Identification of data base desired (CIRCOL).

(4) Accumulation of a query.

(5) Qualification of the query, if desired.

(6) Specification of output.

The instructive nature of the system makes the query formation very

easy with much interaction between the user and the system.

Device — Teletypewriter.

Language Type — Conversational with the system.

Arithmetic Capability — None.

Logic for Selection — Boolean operators exist for use as word connect

ors, while logical restrictors are available to define desired

positional relationships of words in the document. In addition,

users may further limit the acceptability of documents based on

the bibliographic (fixed format) portion of the data. Fields within this portion may be examined using comparison operators.

23
CIRCOL (Continued)

Selection via Ranges of Values — Yes, the comparison operator "BETWEEN"

exists.

Sample — See Figure 1, page 27

4.3 Output Report Language — The language is part of the query language.

Devices — Printer and teletypewriter.

Language Type — Same as query language.

Prestored Format — Format is defined at data base load time, but user

may select certain options at output time.

On-line and/or Off-line Print Command — Yes, the system asks the user

whether he wants on-line and/or off-line output, and prints out

accordingly.

Sort Specifications — None.

M-.M- Maintenance £ Update Language — The update is done via a modified

batch DPS.

M- . 5 Browse Language — No specific browse language.

5. INTERNAL ORGANIZATION

5.1 Data Base — The CIRCOL data base is composed of three basic

categories of foreign scientific and technical information presented in one fully integrated data base. These categories are:

(1) Foreign Scientific and Technical Open Source Literature, (2)

Intelligence Reports, and (3) Evaluated Intelligence Reports.

5 .

2

Data Structure — Data structure consists of a formatted element

called record or reference data and unformatted information called

text. Although this information is data base dependent, CIRCOL

record information includes: accession number, film number, type

of document, date, country of information, and subject area. CIRCOL text information includes: descriptors, source, title,

author, and in the more recently added documents, an abstract.

•5

5.3 Storage Structure — The data base consists of the following files:

2h
CIRCOL (Continued)

(1) The Dictionary file is on a 2314 disk; records are sorted by

alphabetic/numeric words. The remaining part of the record

contains word frequency count, document frequency count, and

a pointer to the Vocabulary file.

(2) The Vocabulary file is on a 2314 disk; each record contains a

list of document numbers in which a particular word appears.

This file, along with the Dictionary, serves as inverted files.

(3) The Master file contains all reference data (formatted) information and a coded form of the text data (unformatted)

.

This file is directly accessed by the document number obtained

from the Vocabulary file for checking relative keyword position and contents of formatted data fields. The Master file

is the last file accessed during the search before retrieval

from the Text file. The file storage device is a 2314 disk.

(4) The Text file contains the text portion of the document as it was entered into the data base. The Text file is directly

accessed by the document number once it has been determined

that the document satisfies the query. The storage device is a 2321 disk.

(5) Special files are built from terms whose number exceeds

dictionary size limitations. These files enable searches to

be made on such terms as though they were dictionary terms.

The storage device is a 2314 disk.

OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS

6.1 Data Access Method — Direct access.

6.2 Search Strategies — Binary search in dictionary file to obtain a

pointer to the vocabulary file.

6.3 Update Facilities — Update is done in the batch mode every two

weeks with a separate program package. Words that cannot be found

in the dictionary, may, optionally, be listed for manual analysis.

6 .

4

Time

25
CIRCOL (Continued)

6.4. 1 Search Response Time — The CIRCOL data base consists of

approximately 500,000 documents. The search time averages

45 seconds.

6.4.2 Update Time — It is batched. Time is a function of the

amount of data to be updated.

6 . 5 Space — The CIRCOL data base consists of approximately 600

million characters, 400 million of which make up the Text file.

26
Figure 1 - CIRCOL

SAMPLE SEARCHES

SIMPLE LONG FORM w/ONLINE REFERENCE

360 'CIRCOL' IN OPERATION

CIRCOL DATA BASE PRESENTLY CONTAINS REFERENCES TO APPROXIMATELY

1*00000 ARTICLES OR REPORTS FROM THE 1958-1969 TIME PERIOD

ENTER TWO DIGIT STATION NUMBER

03

STATION 03 SIGNED ON

ENTER PASSWORD AND ROLL BACK PAPER BEFORE CARRIER RETURN (X-OFF).

&#XHVXXX PASSWORD OK.

00 YOU WANT LONG OR SHORT FORM OF CONVERSATION? L/S

1 PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF, LAST NAME FIRST

Johnson

YOU ARE SIGNED ON USER JO WSON

ENTER YOUR SEARCH ONE LINE AT A TIME. LAST LINE MUST READ 'END'

AUTHORS MUST BE ENCLOSED IN @ SIGNS

SEE PAGE 12 OF CIRCOL USERS GUIDE FOR AN EXPLANATION OF AUTHOR RETRIEVAL

1 OPTION CIRCOL ,TEXT

2 biologic S sabota*e(+l)

3 end

YOUR REQUEST IS BEING SER VI CED BY DPS

1 DOCUMENTS SATISFY YOUR REQUEST

DO YOU WISH TO QUALIFY THIS REQUEST? Y/N

y ENTER QUALIFICATION STATEMENTS ONE LINE AT A TIME

LAST LINE MUST READ 'END'

SEE PAGE 17 OF CIRCOL USERS GUIDE FOR DEFINITIONS OF REFERENCE FIELDS

6 If cntyussr eq y

7 end

YOUR REQUEST IS BEING SERVICED BY DPS

n DOCUMENTS REMA IN YOUR PREVIOUS SEARCH IS BEING REINSTATED

1 DOCUMENTS SATISFY YOUR REQUEST

DO YOU WISH TO QUALIFY THIS REQUEST? Y/N

n SPECIFY THE FORMAT OF YOUR OUTPUT BY LETTER

TO OBTAIN A LIST OF AVAI LABLE OPTIONS, INPUT LIST

a DO YOU WANT ONLINE OUTPUT? Y/N

yPLEASE STANDBY

297677 $03

ACCESSNR: AP8033980

FILMNR: 1919/1691

IF YOU WANT OFFLI l€, ENTER AN RO CHARACTER ADDRESS

IF NOT ENTER 'NONE' none

ARE YOU FINISHED? Y/N

y

YOUR JOB IS TERMINATED

PLEASE TURN OFF THE TERMINAL BEFORE LEAVING

CHOW

27
SIMPLE SHORT FORM w/REINSTATEMENT AND MULTI-QUALIFIERS

360 'CIRCOL' IN OPERATI GN CIRCOL DATA BASE PRESENTLY CONTAINS REFERENCES TO APPROXIMATELY

aOOOOO ARTICLES OR REPORTS FROM THE 1958-1969 TIME PERIOD

ENTER TWO DIGIT STATION NUMBER

03

STATION 03 SIGNED ON

ENTER PASSWORD AND ROLL BACK PAPER BEFORE CARRIER RETURN (X-OFF).

WtWtXX PASSWORD OK.

DO YOU WANT LONG OR SHORT FORM OF CONVERSATION? L/S

s PLEASE IDENTIFY YOURSELF, LAST NAME FIRST

w! 1 son

OK WILSON

BEGIN

1 OPTION CIRCOL ,TEXT

2 hoodlum & hel Jcopter (+1)

3 end

TO DPS

13 DOCS SATISFY

QUALIFY?

yBEGIN

6 If date gt 67

7 and subisode sc '01'

8 end

TO DPS

7 DOCUMENTS REMAIN

QUALIFY?

yBEGIN

a khd cntyussr eq y

9 end

TO DPS

6 DOCUMENTS REMAIN

QUALIFY?

yBEGIN

9 and classif It 1 10 end

TO DPS

DOCUMENTS REMAIN

REINSTATING PREVIOUS

6 DOCS SATISFY

QUALfFY?

nSPECIFY OUTPUT FORMAT

OR 'LIST'

nFINISHED?

yTHIS JOB TERMINATED

CHOW

BACKSPACE AND STRIKEOVER TO CORRECT

28
DDC Information System

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 System Name — Defense Documentation Center (DDC) Information System.

1.2 Source — Defense Documentation Center, Building 5, Cameron

Station , Alexandria, Virginia 22314-

.

1.3 Plans for Maintenance £ Improvement — Extension of on-line

capability within DDC for automation of duplicate checking, document

identification, and reference inquiries. Conversion of batch

retrieval applications to an on-line process. Extension of on-line

capability externally to DoD Laboratories and other Federal agencies

for direct access to technical and management information. Provide

laboratories, commands, bureaus and ODDRSE with time- shared data

management software for correlation and evaluation of information

from several data bases, as well as the creation and maintenance of

special files" on-line.

1.4 Type of Support — Defense Research and Development funds.

1.5 Availability — DDC services are available to Defense activities,

their contractors, and other Federal agencies.

1.6 Cost — Nominal service charges are planned for the future.

1.7 User Population — Defense research activities and their contractors

primarily utilize DDC services. A limited on-line prototype system

is being tested by NSA, Naval Ship Research and Development Center,

the Air Force Weapons Laboratory, the Air Force Avionics Laboratory,

the Air Force Materials Laboratory, Redstone Scientific Information

Center, and one other site yet to be selected.

1.

8

Source Language — Sleuth (1108 Assembly language) and COBOL.

1.9 Proprietary Software — No.

1.10 Documentation — Available for review.

2. OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

2.1 Hardware (Minimum Configuration)

2.1.1 Main Frame — UNIVAC 1108

29
DDC Information System (Continued)

2.1.2 Input Devices — IBM 2741 terminals, and in the future

CRT/keyboard devices

.

2.1.3 Output Devices — Pagewriter remote printers, highspeed

impact printers , magnetic tape and COM units . Electrostatic

printers in the future.

2.1.4 Mass Storage Devices — Fastrand II drums , and disc systems

in the future.

2.1.5 Document Storage Devices ~ Microfiche, 16 and 35 mm roll

film, now manually retrieved and reproduced for copy service.

Future plans include possible use of automated full-text

systems

.

2.1.6 Communication Equipment — Sixteen IBM Selectric 2741

terminals are used for data input. Nine Uniscope 300 CRT

devices, and one KSR teletype terminal are used for re- trieval and use of data management software for creation of

special files. These are linked to the 1108 system via

modems and a Communication Terminal Module Control (CTMC)

unit that can service up to 32 terminals. Future plans

include use of CRT terminals with tape cassettes and electrostatic printers for access to data input, retrieval, and

data management software. Low cost teletype terminals will

also be serviced.

2.1.7 Core Size — 196,000 words, each word equivalent to 36 bits.

2.2 Operating System Version — UNIVAC 1108 EXEC 8 (Level 25 and Level

26T:

2.2.1 Mode of Use — On-line query and batch file maintenance.

3. SOFTWARE FEATURES

3.1 Operating System Environment — UNIVAC 1108 EXEC 8 real-time

supervisory system.

3.2 Transferability between Hardware — UNIVAC 1108 and to a limited

extent, the 1107 system.

3.3 Transferability between Operating Systems — only EXEC 8.

30
DDC Information System (Continued)

3.4- Type of Security — The system is secure including hardware and

software protection features.

3.5 Back-up Facility — Now available through other govenment 1108

installations

.

3.6 Restart S Recovery Capability — A variety of file control and

recovery procedures are employed.

3.7 System Statistics — A wide variety of system statistics are

available on equipment usage, products, and services.

3.8 Selective Dissemination of Information — Both selective

dissemination and demand services are available for obtaining

copies of technical reports. The semi-monthly Technical Abstract

Bulletin identifies recent document accessions. Current awareness

services are also available to a limited number of DoD users.

3 .

9

Indexing — Manual indexing using a thesaurus is current practice.

Experiments using Machine-Aided Indexing are currently underway

and appear promising.

3.10 Thesaurus — A thesaurus is now used. Future plans provide for

a machine-generated thesaurus based on actual terminology used.

3.11 Input Data Editing £ Validation — A series of edit checks are

made on many data fields, including contract numbers, project

numbers, and others.

3.12 Linkage to User Code — No.

if. USER INTERFACE

M-.l Data Description Language — A generalized file maintenance system

is employed using decision edit tables for describing data fields

and edit criteria.

M- 2 Query Language — The query language provides for tutorial assistance in use of the system on-line. A full range of Boolean search

capabilities may be used as well as qualification search procedures

for identifying only those records which meet given standards or

limits.

Device — Teletypewriter.

31
DDC Information System (Continued)

Language Type — Conversational with the computer instructing the user

of each option available.

Arithmetic Capability — It can only sum a total of a set of fields

.

Boolean Logic for Selection — "AM)", "OR", "NOT". Restriction: the

"NOT" must not be the last condition in a query.

Selection Via Ranges of Values — Range of dates may be specified.

Invocation of Predefined Queries — Queries may be saved and invoked

within the same run. Queries may not be saved after the user has

terminated his run.

M- . 3 Output Report Language

Device — Teletypewriter.

Language Type — Same as query language.

Prestored Format — There are four standard display formats at

present. User may be able to specified parameters to the

generalized report generator programs for any output format.

On-line or Off-line Print Command — Yes.

Sort Specification — Yes , fields may be specified for sorting

.

M- . M- Maintenance £ Update Language — Language is system programmer

oriented.

M-.5 Browsing Language — No specific browse language.

5. INTERNAL ORGANIZATION

5.1 Data Base — Several data bases are employed, each utilizing the

same general logic of input edit, batch update, master file

construction, and use with an inverted file for searching. Data

files include the following:

32
DDC Information System (Continued)

Name Function Size

Technical Reports

Work Unit Information

Project Planning

Independent Research

Contractor Performance

700,000 Records

40,000 Records

5.2

Describes completed RSD

Describes current R&D

Describes future RSD

Describes proposed RSD

Describes quality of RSD

Data Structures — A record consists of header information

3,000 Records

6,000 Records

3,000 Records

followed by pointers to the relative position of each variable

length field.

5 . 3 Storage Structure — Master files are maintained on random access

devices if used on-line, otherwise they are kept on magnetic tape.

The inverted files are kept on the random access devices. The

master files are organized by the control thesaurus.

6. OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS

6.1 Data Access Method — Direct access to the inverted file which is

on Fastrand drum.

6 .

2

Search Strategies — Unknown.

6 .

3

Update Facility — Batched.

6 .

4

Time

6.M-.1 Search Response — Time to search is approximately 30-60

seconds depending on system load.

6.M-.2 Update Time — Time to update is a function of the data

base size.

6 .

5

Space — The master records occupy 23 reels of tape and the inverted files occupy approximately 1 to 2 reels of tape.

33
ITIRC

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 System Name — ITIRC (IBM Technical Information Retrieval Center)

1.2 Source — IBM, Technical Information Retrieval Center, White

Plains , New York.

1.

3

Plans for Improvement — Unknown.

1.4 Type of Support — TEXI-PAC, the nucleus of ITIRC, is a type 3 (IBM product, no support) package available tinrough the Program

Information Department.

1.5 Availability — TEXT-PAC is available. ITIRC is not commercially

available

.

1.6 Cost — Free.

1.7 User Population — TEXT-PAC users consist of: Eastman Kodak,

General Telephone and Electronics, and many others.

1.8 Source Language — Basic Assembly Language of IBM 360.

1.9 Proprietary Software — No.

1.10 Documentation — 1. "Searching Normal Text for Information

Retrieval" IBM, Data Processing Application, White Plains, New

York 10601. 2. "TEXT-PAC Basic Documentation" available through

IBM, Program Information Department.

OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

2.1 Hardware (Minimum configuration)

2.1.1 Main Framp. — IBM 360/40

2.1.2 Input Devices — Card reader, tapes.

2.1.3 Output Devices — Printer, tapes.

2.1.4 Mass Storage Devices — 2311 disk and 4 nine-track tapes.

2.1.5 Document Storage Devices — Tapes.

34
ITIRC (Continued)

2.1.6 Communication Equipment — 7711 Tape transmission unit.

2.1.7 Core Size — 256k with 128k region available for the program.

2.2 Operating System Version -- 360 OS with MVT or MFT.

2.2.1 Mode of Use — fetch.

3. SOFTWARE FEATURES

3.1 Operating System Environment — IBM OS/360 MVT or MFT.

3 .

2

Transferability between Hardware — Within IBM 360.

3.3 Transferability between Operating Systems — Within IBM OS/ 360.

3.M- Type of Security — 1 level of data access security, either yes

or no. Data modification is not allowed.

3 .

5

Back-up Facility — The text tape also serves as a data back-up

tape. There is no computer back-up facility mentioned.

3 .

6

Restart S Recovery Capability — Yes.

3 .

7

System Statistics — Forms are distributed to users to get continuous feedback on their satisfaction with the performance of the

system.

3.8 Selective Dissemination of Information — Yes , user fills out a

data sheet consisting of personal data, job data and special

search words applicable to his needs. The IR specialist takes

the user's data sheets and creates a profile similar to the query

language form. This profile is stored in the system. The incoming document is processed against the stored profiles. The

notification and response card provided is a special double-card.

The left hand card contains the bibliographic data and abstract

for each answer. The right-hand card is used first to ask the

user to make an appropriate response in regard to his profile and,

second, it is used to order the complete document or a microfiche

copy.

3 .

9

Indexing — No, because it is a full-text system.

35
ITIRC (Continued)

3.10 Thesaurus — No.

3.11 Input Data Editing S Validation — Yes, there is even a spelling

check.

3.12 Linkage to User's Code — User may write his own output report

format in assembly language and link the code to ITIRC by using the

print control code which is a number from 000 to 999.

4. USER INTERFACE

M-.l Data Description Language — No data description language is

available. Documents entering the system are assigned a printed

control code, such as title = 000, author = 200, etc., up to 999.

M- . 2 Query Language — User supplies the query to the Information

Retrieval Specialist who formulates the query, keypunches and

batches it for the daily search run against tapes. Answers are in

the mail the next day.

Device — Cardreader.

Language Type — Stylized English-like language. Word stem may be used

by allowing "$" to appear at the place where stemming may occur.

Arithmetic Capability — None.

Boolean Logic for Selection — "AND" , "OR" , and "NOT"

.

Selection via Ranges of Values — None.

Invocation of Predefined Queries — Yes , the interest profiles are

predefined queries.

Sample — Al ON ADJ LINE

A2 ONLINE OR ON-LINE

A3 REAL ADJ TIME

A4 Al OR A2 OR A3

A5 INFORMATION ADJ SYSTEM OR RETRIEVAL OR SERVICE

CONO A4 and A5

M- . 3 Output Report Language — There is a standard output on a periodic

schedule . In addition, a Key Word Out-Of-Context (KWOC) is pre36
ITIRC (Continued)

pared. The demand output is described as follows:

Device — Cardreader.

Language Type — System oriented in the form of a programming language.

Pre stored Format — There are 999 print-control codes which may be used

for formatting the input and output. User requests paragraphs he

wishes to see.

On-line or Off-line Print Command — It is not an on-line system.

M- . M- Maintenance and Update Language — To correct a word in the text,

the relative position of the word has to be known. The correction,

plus the document number, paragraph number, line number, and word

number must be indicated. All corrections are processed against

the original tape and outputs a corrected edit tape.

M-.5 Browse Language — No browsing capability in this version.

5. INTERNAL ORGANIZATION

5.1 Data Base — The permanent file is on three tapes: text tape,

search tape, and OMAHA tape. There are many files in the data

base: IBM, NON-IBM, JOURNAL and INVENTION, etc.

5 .

2

Data Structure — In the search tape, records are organized by word

length with pointers indicating the start of the word groupings.

In the text tape, records are organized by print control characters

for each paragraph.

5 .

3

Storage Structure — Tape oriented serial records.

6. OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS

6.1 Data Access Methods — Tape oriented serial record. Within record,

words are sorted into groups by the number of characters.

6 .

2

Search Strategies — Serial from record to record, but within a

record words are searched only in the specified word length group.

6 .

3

Update Facilities — Update weekly from the forms.

37
ITIRC (Continued)

6 . M- Time —

6.M-.1 Search Response — 1 to 2,000 documents/minute.

6 . j4 . 2 Update Time — Unknown.

6 . 5 Space — Unlimited tape space.

38
MEAD DATA CENTRAL

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 System Name — Mead Data Central, formerly known as Data Central.

1.2 Source — Mead Data Central, Inc. (MDCI).

1 .

3

Plans for Improvement — Extensive on-going effort.

l.M- Type of Support — Complete requirement analysis, data conversion,

programming support, etc. at MDCI Service Center.

1.5 Availability — Through MDCI Service Centers since 1968.

1.6 Cost — Published rate schedule.

1.7 User Population — Environmental Protection Agency, National

Aeronautics Space Administration, Health, Education £ Welfare,

Department of Defense, National Institute of Health, United States

Air Force, National Technical Information Service, Union Carbide,

New York and Ohio Bar Associations, American Psychological Association, Corporation for Research in Social Sciences (CRESS).

1.8 Source Language — Assembly, COBOL, FORTRAN.

1.9 Proprietary Software — Yes.

1.10 Documentation — On request for specific user requirements.

2. OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

2.1 Hardware (minimum configuration)

2.1.1 Main Frame — IBM 360/40 and up.

2.1.2 Input Devices — Data input on IBM Magnetic Tape/Selectric

Typewriters (MTST )

; on-line remote terminals, especially

CRT's. Query input on on-line remote terminals (especially

CRT's).

2.1.3 Output Devices — Same as Query Input devices.

2.1.M- Mass Storage Devices — Direct Access Storage Devices (DASD)

39
MEAD DATA CENTRAL (Continued)

2.1.5 Document Storage Devices — DASD.

2.1.6 Communication Equipment — Primarily color CRT terminals and

various other remote terminal devices.

2.1.7 Core Size — Variable depending upon Operating System and

number and type of communication lines supported. For

example, under DOS and supporting ten half-duplex, dial-up

communication lines, the core requirement is 6M-K.

2.2 Operating System Version — IBM 360 DOS or OS.

2.2.1 Mode of Use — Time-shared. The foreground partition used

for queries and the background partition for file updating.

SOFTWARE FEATURES

3.1 Operating System Environment — IBM 360 DOS or OS.

3.2 Transferability Within Hardware — Within IBM 360 or 370 family.

3 .

3

Transferability Within Operating System — Within 360 DOS or OS.

3 . M- Type of Security — User security code may be changed daily. Each

entry and/or field (segment) may be given a security code.

3.5 Back-up Facility — Additional MDCI Service Centers. Data bank

back-up is available in magnetic form.

3 .

6

Restart and Recovery Capability — Unknown.

3 .

7

System Statistics — Unknown.

3.8 Selective Dissemination of Information — Unknown.

3 .

9

Indexing — It is a full-text system and therefore, indexing is not

required.

3.10 Thesaurus — Uncontrolled, computer-generated, available per

database

.

3.11 Input Data Editing and Validation — Yes, per data owner specifications .

40
MEAD DATA CENTRAL (Continued)

3.12 Sorting — At output reporting time the system will ask the user

whether he wants the entries sorted, if yes, enter the name of the

field(s) to be sorted.

3.13 Special Features — This system is capable of automatically

restructuring the file without rebuilding. Multi-file or cross- file searching is also available. The system is also capable of

doing "recursive search" meaning using the previously obtained

answers as input terms to the next query. There is a "superfield

concatenation" capability in which the user may concatenate fields

and define a super-field for searching purposes.

4. USER INTERFACE

4.1 Data Description Language — The user provides MDCI with input data

specifications and data base specifications. MDCI will use these

to set up programs in assembly language, COBOL, or FORTRAN called

Data Base Definition and Input Data Definition.

4.2 Query Language —

Device — See query input device (2.1.2).

Language Level — English-like dialogue.

Arithmetic Capability — Yes.

Boolean Logic for Selection — Major "AND", minor "AND", "OR".

Selection via Range of Values — Yes.

Sample — See Figure 2, page 4-3

4 .

3

Output Report Language — The output format is programmable via

Assembly, COBOL, or FORTRAN language and stored per key-name.

Names or numbers are used to specify the pre-stored format. Device

may be specified by "console" or "printer". Computer will also

offer (to hard copy devices) a chance to roll the paper ahead.

4.4 Maintenance and Update Language — Unknown.

4 .

5

Browse Language — Full flexibility available.

41
MEAD DATA CENTRAL (Continued)

5. INTERNAL ORGANIZATION

5.1 Data Base — The data base consists of three main files: the

serial file, the inverted search index file, and the range

directory.

5.2 Data Structure — Variable per owner specifications. Up to 61,441

segments per entry and up to 255 files per data base may be defined.

5 .

3

Storage Structure — The records are organized randomly on the

DASD which is pointed to from the range directory. The new data

is added or inserted at the end with pointers in the range directory pointing, to it. There is an inverted list maintained and

every word or value is inverted except those in a common "stopword" list.

OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS

6.1 Data Access Methods — Proprietary special index-sequential access

method.

6 .

2

Search Strategies — Words are searched in the directory to find

the proper range and then sequential search within the range.

6 .

3

Update Facilities — Batch mode update.

6 .

4

Time

6.4.1 Search Response — In minute (s) dependent upon search complexity.

6.4.2 Conversation S Browsing Response — In seconds.

6.4.3 Update Time — Dependent upon data base size and amount of

data to be updated.

6 .

5

Space — The inverted files space is dependent upon the original

file. It occupies about 20 to 60 percent of the original file.

The average is approximately 35%.

42
Computer: YOU ARE NOW IN COMMUNICATION WITH (DATA) CENTRAL.

PLEASE ENTER 10 CHARACTER IDENTIFICATION.

User: 1234567890

Computer: ENTER FILE, MESSAGE OPTION

User: projects, long

Computer: ENTER REQUEST

User: mercuryComputer: THERE ARE 9 ENTRIES THAT SATISFY YOUR REQUEST.

DO YOU WANT TO PROCESS ANSWERS: NO, PRINT, MODIFY?

User: modify

Computer: ADD NUMBER 002 MODIFICATION

User: and Sstartdate gtr 01jan89

Computer

:

User:

THERE ARE 7 ENTRIES THAT SATISFY YOUR REQUEST.

DO YOU WANT TO PROCESS ANSWERS: NO, PRINT, MODIFY?

print

Computer: ENTER DESIRED OUTPUT, DEVICE

User: full-ret, console

Computer

:

User

DO YOU WANT THE ENTRIES SEQUENCED BY ANY OF THE RETRIEVED

SEGMENTS? YES OR NO.

no

43
MEDLARS II

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 System Name — MEDLARS II (Medical Literature Analysis and

Retrieval System) initial version.

1.2 Source — Software written by Computer Sciences Corporation for

National Library of Medicine.

1.3 Plans for Improvement — An extended system which is on-line is

being planned.

1.4 Type of Support — National Library of Medicine will maintain.

1.5 Availability — Initial system is expected to be operational

by the end of 1971.

1.6 Cost — At present, the system is not intended to be commercially

available.

1.7 User Population — The National Library of Medicine.

1.8 Source Language — PL/1 and ALC.

1.9 Proprietary Software — No.

1.10 Documentation — The Principles of MEDLARS, National Library of

Medicine, (no date )

.

There are several internal documents, but not publicly available.

2. OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

2.1 Hardware (minimum configuration)

2.1.1 Main Frame — IBM 360/50

2.1.2 Input Devices — Keymatic (keyboard £ magnetic tape),

card reader.

2.1.3 Output Devices — Printer or tape for photo-composition.

2.1.4 Mass Storage Devices — Magnetic tape, 2314 disk.

2.1.5 Document Storage Devices — Not part of the MEDLARS II system.

44
MEDLARS II (Continued)

2.1.6 Communication Equipments — Not on-line.

2.1.7 Core Size — 512K main memory and 1 million LCS. (There is

version for demand searches only which requires 256K with

no LCS).

2 . 2 Operating System Version — 360 OS/MVT (Demand searches version

will run under OS/MFT).

2.2.1 Mode of Use — Batch only, program re-entrant.

3. SOFTWARE FEATURES

3.1 Operating System Environment — 360 OS/MVT. It operates under an

interface control program called COSMIS.

3.2 Transferability between Hardware — Within IBM 360 and 370.

3.3 Transferability between Operating System — OS/MVT.

3.M- Type of Security — Security for updating files is available, but no security at present is provided for accessing the files.

3 .

5

Back-up Facility — Tape back-up.

3.6 Restart S Recovery Capability — Checkpoint restart is available

for long runs.

3.7 Selective Dissemination of Information — No S. D. I. based on

interest profile, but the system periodically generates standard

outputs called Index Medicus, Cumulated Index Medicus, recurring

bibliographies and literature searches on specific topics.

3 .

9

Indexing — Manual.

3.10 Thesaurus — Yes.

3.11 Input Data Editing S Validation — Yes.

3.12 Sorting — No.

45
MEDLARS (Continued)

if. USER INTERFACE

M-.l Data Description Language — The data description language is

compiled by .an ALC program. The output from this compiler is a

set of data description tables which define the file structure

and modules of DMOPS interpretive programs. DMOPS is a 'machine

independent' object code which is interpreted by the interpreter.

The data description language provides the ability to build

directories or inverted files on any number of items. The

language is comprised of four kinds of statements: FILE, RECORD,

field description, END. The language is built upon keys, and

reserved word descriptors. Each descriptor begins with a clause

which may contain other key words.

Sample — See Figure 3, page 49

4 . 2 Query Language — There are two types of query formation. The

user may use the LPS (Library Processing System) language or he

may fill out forms designed for search formation. There is a "Form Preprocessor" which will take the form entry and convert it

into the language. The retrieval consists of either a key request

which will cause a unique item to be retrieved from the system; or a query request which is a boolean expression which will yield a

collection of items covering a limited range of interests.

Device — Key punched or tape.

Language Type — Forms or language delimited by reserved words.

Arithmetic Capability — None.

Boolean Logic for Selection — "AND" , "OR"

Selection Via Ranges of Values — Yes, one can specify a "limit".

M- . 3 Output Report Language — There are also forms designed for output

report specification. The default is standard format.

Device — Key punched or tape.

Language Type — Form specification.

Prestored Format — Yes.

46
MEDLARS II (Continued)

On-line or off-line Print Command — Not applicable because the initial

MEDLARS II is not on-line.

Partial printout — Yes.

M-.M- Maintenance S Update Language — It is also done by filling a

form. The "form proecessor" will generate a language which is

command oriented, with a command name (such as ADD, DELETE,

UPDATE, REPLACE) followed by a list of parameters in parenthesis.

M- . 5 Browse Language — None.

5. INTERNAL ORGANIZATION

5.1 Data Base — There are four data bases in MEDLARS II.

1. Item record data base - A record for every journal title

in the library.

2. Augmented MeSH - A collection of valid indexing terms plus

scope notes.

3. Citation record data base - A collection of citations

supported by the Augmented MeSH file.

M-. Supporting data base - A collection of query formation,

system statistic and management statistic package, and all

other housekeeping functions.

5.2 Data Structure

File Format — The file contains citation records segmented

and dynamically allocated.

Record Format — The record consists of a fixed part required,

fixed part not-required , variable part required,

variable part not-required. Hieriachial structure is allowed.

5 .

3

Storage Structure

Secondary Storage Organization — There is an available space

table to assign space on a track. A record locator file

accessed via an accession number contains the relative

track address on the disk.

47
MEDLARS II (Continued)

Inverted List Maintained — User option to define inverted files.

6. OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS

6.1 Data Access Methods — Absolute address of disk is obtained and

directly accessed.

6 .

2

Search Strategies — The terms of the search equation are analyzed.

Search is performed on the inverted file, and then linear search

on the subsets.

6 3 Update Facilities — Batched.

6

. |4 Time — Unknown, because the system is not yet operational.

6 . 5 Space — The inverted files occupy approximately 25% as much space

as the original file.

U8
AN EXAMPLE OF DATA DEFINITION LANGUAGE OF MEDLARS

FILE PAYROLL: DATA BASE;

RECORD PERSONNEL: REQUIRES (EMP-NO, DEFT, RATE);

EMP-NO: DECIMAL, SIZE 'IS 8 BYTES, DIRECTORY UNIQUE;

EMP-NAME : REQUIRES LAST , CONTAINS (FIRST, MIDDLE )

;

FIRST: CHARACTER, SIZE IS VARIABLE BYTES;

MIDDLE: CHARACTER, SIZE IS 1 BYTE;

DEFT: DECIMAL, SIZE IS 6 BYTES;

RATE: DECIMAL, SIZE IS 4 BYTES;

WORK CAT: BINARY, SIZE IS 8 BITS, ALLOW (7=3 THRU 2=500);

REPORT-TYPE: BINARY, SIZE IS 16 BITS, DIRECTORY CpORDINATE

FORMAT-CAT;

FORMAT-CAT: BINARY, SIZE IS lb BITS, DIRECTORY COORDINATE

REPORT-TYPE;

REPORT GROUP: CONTAINS (REPORT-TYPE, FORMAT-CAT), OCCURS AS

SHOWN;

END PAYROLL;

FIGURE 3 Sample DDL of MEDLARS

49
NEW YORK TIMES INFORMATION BANK

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 System Name — The New York Times Information Bank

1.2 Source — All software not written by Times staff is written under

contract by IBM, Federal System Division, Gaithersburg , Maryland.

1.

3

Plans for Improvement — Times staff with some IBM contractual

arrangement will maintain and improve the system.

1.4 Type of Support — The rights of the program belong to the New

York Times. They will consider software leasing at a presently

undefined cost.

1.5 Availability — First half of 1971.

1.6 Cost — Unknown.

1.7 User Population — The New York Times and outside subscribers.

1.8 Source Language — Basic Assembly language and PL/1.

1.9 Proprietary Software — Yes , New York Times solely owns all the

software

.

1.10 Documentation — Unknown.

OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

2.1 Hardware (Minimum configuration)

2.1.1 Main Frame — IBM 3.60/50.

2.1.2 Input Devices ~ In-house terminals (used for data entry,

inquiry and output) are IBM 4506 display stations with IBM

4279 terminal control units.

2.1.3 Output Devices — Video terminals as in 2.1.2, IBM 1403

high speed printer with upper and lower case.

2.1.4 Mass Storage Devices — IBM 2314 disk, IBM 2321 data cell,

IBM 2401 tape drives.

50
NEW YORK TIME INFORMATION BANK (Continued)

2.1.5 Document Storage Devices — Foto-Mem RISAR (4.95 million

page images) controlled by a CENTAUR computer.

2.1.6 Communications Equipment — see Input Devices as 2.1.2.

2.1.7 Core Size — 512k, but the system only uses 200k bytes.

2.2 Operating System Version -- IBM 360 DOS.

2.2.1 Mode of Use — On-line query and batch file maintenance.

3. SOFTWARE FEATURES

3.1 Operating System Environment — IBM 360 DOS partition controlled

task.

3 .

2

Transferability between Hardware — Within IBM 360.

3 .

3

Transferability between Operating System — Within 360/DOS.

3.4 Type of Security — Data access security is available via customer

assigned identification number and password. Data modification is

not allowed.

3 .

5

Back-up Facility — Unknown.

3.6 Restart S Recovery Capability — Yes.

3 .

7

System Statistics — Yes.

3.8 Selective Dissemination of Information — Not planned at present

but the capability exists in the system.

3 . G Indexing — Yes, indexing is computer-assisted with the system

checking for valid words against the thesaurus.

3.10 Thesaurus — Yes.

3.11 Input Data Editing and Validation — Yes, both on-line and off-line.

3.12 Linkage to User Code — None.

51
NEW YORK TIME INFORMATION BANK (Continued)

i+. USER INTERFACE

M-.l Data Description Language — None.

1 . 2 Query Language — Interactive dialogue with the system.

Device — Terminals.

Language Level — User oriented dialogue with the system.

Arithmetic Capability — None.

Boolean Logic for Selection — 'AND', 'OR', 'NOT'.

Selection via Ranges of Values — Dates , sources , descriptor and

abstract weights, etc.

Invocation of Predefined Queries — No.

M- . 3 Output Report Language — Abstracts, citations and microfiche

addresses are outputted via the terminal or off-line. Hard copy

of abstracts and full text may be obtained on request.

M-.M- Maintenance S Update Language — Stylized format to be used only

by system programmer.

M-.5 Browse Language — Yes, the computer guides the user by asking at

each step whether the user would like to see the abstract.

5. INTERNAL ORGANIZATION

5.1 Data Base — The data base consists of three files. The descriptor file on disk, the locator file on disk and the abstract file on data cell.

5 .

2

Data Structure — No information is given but some items are

mentioned in each file. The descriptor file contains the terms,

term type, searchable title (from a list of 200), and time period.

The locator file contains bibliographic information such as by or

about a man, the source (N.Y. Times, other journals, wire services,

etc. ), types of materials (letters to editor, editorial, etc.).

The abstract file contains the detailed abstract of the document

in text form and is only retrieved when all the search criteria

have been met.

52
NEW YORK TIMES INFORMATION RANK (Continued)

5 3 Storage Structure — Proprietary information

.

6. OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS —This system is not operational, the

software is proprietary and therefore, no information is given.

53
ORBIT II

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 System Name — ORBIT II (On-line Retrieval Bibliographic Information Transfer).

1.2 Source — System Development Corporation, 2500 Colorado Avenue,

Santa Monica, California 90406.

1. 3 Plans for Improvement — SDC plans to improve the system such that

it will handle several different data bases with one copy of the

Retrieval Program in one partition.

1.4 Type of Support — SDC will maintain the system for one year.

After the first year SDC will continue to provide maintenance on

the basis of separate contract.

1 .

5

Availability — Available in January 1971.

1.6 Cost — $22,000 if purchased, or the system may be leased at

$1,200 plus a monthly charge of $750, which reduces to $600 per

month after 12 months.

1 .

7

User Population — Unknown.

1.

8

Source Language — PL/1.

1 .

9

Proprietary Software — Yes.

1.10 Documentation — Users and Operator Manuals.

2. OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

2.1 Hardware (Minimum configuration)

2.1.1 Main Frame — IBM 360/40.

2.1.2 Input Devices — Standard phone-coupled terminals, such as teletype, IBM 2741, Time sharing terminal 707 Execuport, or

Vernitron. Also CRT terminals such as CC-335 or Datapoint

3300.

2.1.3 Output Devices — Teletypewriter, off-line printer.

54
ORBIT (Continued)

2.1.4 Mass Storage Device — 2314 disk.

2.1.5 Document Storage Device — None.

2.1.6 Communication Equipment — IBM 2701 Data Adapter Unit (for

up to about 8 ports). IBM 2702 Transmission Control (for

about 24 to 32 ports). IBM 2703 Data Transmission Control (for up to 96 ports). A special IBM teleprocessing

procedure, called QTAM (Queued Telecommunications Access

Method) must be used with the above equipment to handle

the incoming and outgoing messages to the system.

2.1.7 Core Size — Minimum 256k bytes of core storage: 160k for

ORBIT II, 40k for QTAM, and 24k for OS/MFT.

2.2 Operating System Version — IBM 360/OS/MFT or IBM 360/OS/MVT.

2.2.1 Mode of Use — On-line and batch.

3. SOFTWARE FEATURES

3.1 Operating System Environment — OS/MFT, OS/MVT

3.2 Transferability between Hardware — Within IBM 360 and IBM 370.

3.3 Transferability between Operating System — OS/MFT, OS/MVT.

3.4 Type of Security — Optional.

3 .

5

Back-up Facility — If desired.

3.6 Restart and Recovery Capability — Yes.

3.7 System Statistics — Unknown.

3.8 Selective Dissemination of Information — Limited.

3 .

9

Indexing — Manual. However, an "automatic indexing" feature could

be added with the addition of about $2,500.

3.10 Thesaurus — Not part of the standard package.

3.11 Input Data Editing S Validation — Yes.

3.12 Sorting — No.

55
ORBIT (Continued)

4. USER INTERFACE

H.I Data Description Language — There is no data description language. However, the user will have to provide SDC with

specifications for the data base. SDC will use these to prepare

a file structure description deck (specific to each data base)

and provide the customer with the file generation program.

4.2 Query Language — Easy to use with a lot of tutorial and detail

error diagnostics. The commands may be entered in any sequence.

Device — Teletypewriter 2741 and CRT.

Language Type — User oriented.

Arithmetic Capability — None.

Boolean Logic for Selection — Unrestricted use of all boolean.

Selection via Ranges of Values — Search for term adjacent alpha-

~ betically up and down.

Sample — See Figure 4, page 59 and 60.

4 .

3

Output Report Language

Device — Teletypewriter 2741.

Language Type — Same as Query Language.

Prestored Format — Yes.

Sort Specification — Yes, the system provides for ordering the

outputs in terms of relevance or any one of several other

numeric categories.

Off-line or On-line Print Command — Yes.

Special Features Specification — Specification may be given to

print only parts of the record.

4.4 Maintenance S Update Language — On-line update is possible. The

language Is the same as the query language and consists of commands

followed by specifications.

56
ORBIT II (Continued)

M-.5 Browse Language — There is no browsing capability of the

original documents because this is not a full-text system. However, the indexed terms may be browsed by the use of "NEIGHBOR",

"ROLL-DOWN" , and "ROLL-UP" commands.

5. INTERNAL ORGANIZATION

5.1 Data Base — There are three main files : Unit record file

,

Postings file, and Locator file.

5.2 Data Structure — The data structure consists of category name

(such as author, title, indexing terms, etc.) and data value in

alphanumeric and special symbols. ORBIT II can handle up to 255

on a unit record. Hierarchical data structure is available.

5 .

3

Storage Structure — Unknown because it is a proprietary software

package.

6. OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS

6.1 Data Access Method — Unknown, it is a proprietary software package.

6.2 Search Strategies — Unknown, it is a proprietary software package.

6 .

3

Update Facilities — Both on-line and batch update facilities are

provided. There is a limit as to how much on-line updating can be

done before the data base needs to be reconstructed. The user may

determine the amount of space to be left in the file by the File

Generation Program for on-line additions.

6 . M- Time — There is no time quoted for response to a query. The

following are times quoted for batch-mode updating on a 360/67:

- Building an original file of 3,000 records requires 5 minutes of

batch time.

- Building an original file of 30,000 records requires 2 hours of

of batch time.

- Adding 30,000 records to 60,000 record data base requires 2 hours of batch time.

- Adding 3,000 records to a 130,000 record data base requires 40

minutes of batch time.

57
ORBIT II (Continued)

6 . 5 Space — The space required on the IBM 2314- disk is approximately

equal to the number of characters in the main data base, plus 50%

of that number for the special index files.

58
APPENDIX D. SAMPLE

O

H

Z

M

ZO

M

<H

O

z

to<

u

3

H

H

O

w

z

M

w

CO<:u

Piw

oJ

x x x x

cd <c ^ <-> —

)

nr- iu (/i ^

LiJ i— ('"> CVi m •= ^" ^ ) > r ] O C- <r

> Q y zz <z 1— rr- o UJ <c o => *r I c, J c

>

t ) UJ •~i <r t'J

t/i t. > o «a to U-l t/1 -D c J

i

. j "3 cn rr'

( ) rry CD «=C ^ —

1

CJ ' ) ~

)

. 1 <t ( > <^ d_ C/) l~J —

i

oo

CM—- cc

cd on (O cd en

C_> r— -Z. O

i uj en i

r— LiJ O <NJ

O CNJ z

Q£ O "^

C a 3

-J »• -H

,-J -G

-D 3 C OJ

ES

p TJ m o <TJ O

d V.' l-i a; .U r oo cn

(A -H O 4-» C »-i *t3 *H -H u T 0;

<u OJ P u

H <y •- OJ 3

—> o j= o

fl u J2

rH W cj j-i c ca -H 3 H

CO O o c

s> c u O 01 o

01 C (C r-<

0) r

in •• 3 ci5 ??

C3 *a c -o

CO a> -o t: O o (0 T-* ° *J e

>% n & u

c o fi 4J

Cfl u o a> fl> u •O r-i QJ J0> O Cfl >. «

VI ^( u

W a» o 01 c

1* 4J -H o at CO u

•H a> U Du

4J _o TO

(it TJ CL Cv c u u

cc s VI (0

a. f-i a QJ rH X O rH

<y u S « co

.u V) <fl n^ ^ m X QJ O a) <n •H jj <T M c >

•U OJ u H Tl

F= Rl Vj <n 3 p .c QJ 2

to

i-> U O

nn 3 Tl c a> ffl c

at F= s- QJ -n ^ QJ

r: H o JLi B QJ QJ

c: H •o >

O Q)

4-1 .Oh

TJ 3

Gl c

-*

tnm

4J

0) cd *H b

Ml l. rl D

C) ifl !U a

-1

Sh<Q 2H>UJ QUI UJ C_) Di o <: c_ o z: < l-zu?:

lu o :n <T —1 ^£ }— O

1111

=) Z3 •-« O cC «f t— in

n] CO G O i—t O i-t nc a* 1 CU C

C -u 1 o

C! ^ X O •H 4J

QJ cj •H CO ta

QJ C crj CO o --I eo « QJ QJ t»C *J JD _C

O )-i W 3 ^

»- co en c

3 en J3 3 rt 4J 4J O O

c 01 j3 JC 0J ^ X

c rr 01 4J o

o 0) 3 r-i tr> (0 00

0) *w

QJ tfl tn QJ c a; *n f^ o J3 CO ci CU CQ u tH H >^ C F O en C CO c> QJ ^ o 4J -H 4

c- ^H £ •H X AJ 3 XI 3

a- g o cr i-i

w h li m

l-H >-S H

•O Ij U U

rH 4J p.

] U,' Si (I)

5

QJ aj ri 0) rn l o

J= tn (0 c>

f3 0) 3 w Vi

4-» QJ Vj a;

CO m oj QJ o CO H r a) cc — t: t- t-< t-i H ^J

FIGURE 4 Sample ORBIT Printout

59
ORBIT II PRINTOUT

CO . UJ X LU

>- LU z - oz o i- z

CC

LU U_ oe

ZEE O o CO

2: _i «t -i _i < _

i

c- Z CO o irt s: CO ^

CC LU CC Of LU > LU E

_J »— LU CO£ -o

CC LU CC =3 LU CO *— Z fO o_ CO

LU LU

3= CC Lu o 3 »J O

ii §

»— o

O 1

1

11 1 1 —J o LU LU |— t— O z o CO (Q 1 —1 21 J- LU CO z z z C CO LU f

CO - _J g Xl--

-—LU

UJ § CD z

= Oco O —I o

m r>^— _o oz < 1- o I— o

L.CL

'"" 5

3 !J CO o —<t = C_J LJl CJ ro o

LU 1— ce —

<

z <z $- CM c_> Z o Z CC «c o

>- CCo

UJ Q. ^-> t— Q --3 -3 -• CCoCO CCoO *—* CC LU O DC «£ O 3: h- a t— <T3 CO o

cc r*» *3- Si o LO s: a _J O LO LO §

u-> LO CO t— ex OO t— LU z: _j >- <; —

.

c: _3 z *J0 >- I— CD O CO a. (— Z < < UJU _J X 1— o <I 1— a>

i <t ^ >- LU CO z Qi CC C£ Ql Qi CC LU z CC z JO V- hi S LU CO 1 UJ UiDDDS 10 UJ -4-J LO z X LU CJ CO z

r— 2: CO o cr E ^ O Q O Q O 1— s: n CO a LU E 5- o LU CD LU LO LU LU O LU LU LU CD o LU CC LU Q_ s: C Q CM Z V- oc z J— L- z. (— < h- LU h- "O LU

c£ z i o < 3 <: o r*j z 00 -J <£ c CC h- X CO i 1

<£ LU z h— -o tS) t— CL < a (— T5 LU et O <X> i CO —-CC cc CO LU CO oz CO CO CO 1— <-

.—. CO E—l _J h^ co ^-^cc S- o J- h- o o >* X uO •*- CO •— o oz I 1 CD o -r o o n: -J ro CL 2- CC C CO o

c_> •—•«=! «=C _1 =C CJ JO CJ* 19 <: O »— <-J c z CC Z CM UJ a: =* h-*->^ "**. LU CC U- CC h- CC h- to CC T3 CJ

LU r— OS <3i c JO O <-> X LU —l <=t CCT _l cC 1) z: o oo CD c£ CC zc c O CM g

cu uJ LOZ z z yi J— > _J 01 LU LU LU CD LU a c «5 o lu en «=r. o c CO <TJ £\ *-«*< i/l LO CC ' CC CO CD CO CO t_ LO CD LD LU L, CC <Z o 1 S_ 1 LO c- CO c_> cu o 1 c l/> y- 1 -zz cr. S- t— Ul Ci— s: >- c -Q s:lu LU >> 2: Z z - cc 1 o 1 o c LO 1 —' <£ z 1 £> >- O t—. LO 1 =z CC <: Cr. z -o o- 1— < <<a i— en i— ro i

*t —i r- O cr: CC CC LU o •- I— CM LU o > CJ -J

i t a; CC OC- cc CD C>« - CC CO CO CO CO CO CC *N> CC iO l/> gc. **%. CC CT s -^ CC ta *>*. CC

zs. UJ «cr LU OLU UJ O LU O LU o sb UJ LO Lu o o m LU O LU LO LU o LO U_l <—* o O co c/> CO CC LU CO a:iuz CO CC LO CO CO C£ Q- CO CO CO CC CO CO CC CO t/"V .— LO =) CO LO a. lo ZD CL. CO - 3 a.

CM n z CO CO co CS- CO =3 o_ CO CO Ql CO CO

t N \ \ /

\ \ * ffl JS » >,

4-> <d -h qj

01 T) D lu

(0 4-1 a) •o

T3 •H Li

1-1 (J j-j (J <D o

u a u at

CJ en a) Vi M JO

qj u T)

a> > O cn u cd x

C^ JC TJ B « Cu -n j^ >

>N 01 c o jr: m >

E o ca o

J0 tf. 3 11 H

T3 S

M-t 0) O "H

a> <u u a j-» 00 J3

j-i tn V. ^H to CO 4-1 W H u 0) C3 O- u Sfl n tl Li tn to c 0! CJ

ea a « d H 01 c CO CL 3 *a E cn :* cr 0) u 3 H C5 tJ —

1

Tl •H to >- u CO c i-H C 0) 4J H jc; m (j *H -H (0 a cu J^ H U u JO Vj V) jj h s CO jr 01 to CO c

O u JC 40 a> IH

0) c CO to u Q. 0) Li F 01 *H qj > O a

u C c CO 1-4 E= c

T D

T) u F M CU 0! C JO o i-J OJLi c <M u o

c m 3 3

fsl w

•c

cu at J= 01 PJ 4J o u U >. o: C H u

ai co to o> e *a U U J0 O C

*J o to o

O JO 13 (3 U

01 V C» 3

j*: > o

CO a! Li U

Ul ZC CL' X V

o) at cl *a o

CO C CO o 3-H4JiJ*4 ^ £ H

CO *n •H >s 0) m

JC T3 S

JO a iH cu *J E ^ CJ 4-1 CJ c a; ^H o

cr, (0 a id *j 1= 01 u Li m

C c V CJ 3 CO

DO -H t- ti CO •H r. CO Li cn 3 T7

tJ O Li C CI m O i-( -a c -n •H H

w c CJ OR CO >

-f4 Q> C L* 01 a

cn rrf o CJ CL u

CJ C f-l CO .>, a.

40 rH 4-1 U cn >s cc cu cn u 0) -o ft) j= 4J cu £J re .c H CO B > H CO *-»

u CI) c u •H

Or u n o *n

OJ H 01

01 *-< JZ <D 0)

n^ Li JC V yj O

Li r. co F JJ

0) cn 01 CJ C rtfl CO 0) L. GJ 4J c O

ac o JC

OJ -n OJ 3

CJ CO -n c 0)

OJ V cn o

<^ JO E -u

-u m e U CO

CO c tO > OJ c CJ u D) H LiO cu Li CO JJ JO JJ

T-* CJ 4J 01 JC V) CJ Li 4J to H

o c CC C)

r. •x r> cn £ H *i CO ca u <J

0) T3 J*! fH > C Ul ^

QJ -H nj 'U

O U O "*J a (j -a h

fcj£t) 5) U

EjJ O Li jJ fi « V. O ffl 3

o o • M L J "3

J-» O. QJ

CJ to V* 3 m-o o

U —

<

JJ rH U JO O CL

CO r* O X

C 0» OJ

Li CJ >* 0J

0, C C V

.', -« S JS a — e

I 0J

0J <n O >

JO M-i U O

t- O A JO

FIGURE 4 (Continued) Sample ORBIT Printout

60
RECON/ STIMS

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 System Name — RECON/STIMS (Remote Console/ Scientific and Technological Information Modular System) or simply RECON. A nearly

identical but proprietary version is called DIALOG.

1.2 Source — RECON software written by Lockheed Missile S Space

Company, Sunnyvale, California, and STIMS software written by

Informatics TISCO, Bethesda, Maryland, for NASA.

1.3 Plans for Maintenance S Improvement — NASA will maintain and

improve both RECON and STIMS at the NASA Scientific and Technical

Information Facility. Improvements will center on communications

(by using a front-end communication's processor), capacity

(additional terminals), and new commands (numeric range search).

l.M- Type of Support — NASA is now entering into a maintenance and

computer service contract with TISCO.

1.5 Availability — Yes, it is a government-owned system available

from COSMIC," University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.

1.6 Cost — Government-owned. There will be a charge of $59.00 for

STIMS documentation and $14.50 for RECON documentation.

1.7 User Population — European Space Research Organization, Atomic

Energy Commission, Department of Justice, Library of Congress.

1.8 Source Language — On-line programs are written in basic assembly

language. Batch programs are written in PL/1 except for the

Master I/O Control Programs which are written in basic assembly

language.

1.9 Proprietary Software — No.

COSMIC (Computer Software Management and Information Center) was established early in 1966 at the University of Georgia to collect

and disseminate to the public computer software developed by

government agencies.

61
RECON/STIMS (Continued)

1.10 Documentation — (1) RECON Operation Manual

(2) RECON Programming Documentation

(3) STIMS File Maintenance Subsystem

2. OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

2.1 Hardware (mLnijnum configuration)

2.1.1 Main Frame — IBM 360/50

2.1.2 Input Devices — Card reader or tape for batch and CRT with

keyboard for on-line mode.

2.1.3 Output Devices — 1403 high speed printer with an upper and

lower case print train on the central computer and a local

printer at each terminal.

2.1.

4

Mass Storage Devices — Disk and data cells.

2.1.5 Document Storage Devices — Microfiche (manually retrieved).

2.1.6 Communication Equipment — 25 terminals consisting of CRT,

keyboard and printer.

2.1.7 Core Size — RECON requires 150,000 bytes and STIMS requires

200,000 bytes. Another 3,000 bytes are required for each

terminal being serviced.

2.2 Operating System Version — 360/OS under MFT II.

2.2.1 Mode of use — On-line and batch.

3. SOFTWARE CHARACTERISTICS

3.1 Operating System Environment — IBM 360/OS under MFT II.

3.2 Transferability between Hardware — Within IBM 360.

3.3 Transferability between Operating Systems — Within 360/OS.

3.4 Type of Security — No security is available except by terminal.

62
RECON/STIMS (Continued)

3 .

5

Back-up Facility — Data back-up by a tape dump.

3.6 Restart S Recovery Capability — Yes.

3 .

7

System Statistics — Batch run available to get data-base statistics to find out whether the files should be reorganized.

3.8 Selective Dissemination of Information — There are two ways to

handle S.D.I, in the system. One way is by restricting the

search to a range of access numbers and achieving the effect of

searching only the current tape. Another way is to create a new

temporary inverted file for new documents and perform S.D.I,

search only on the new inverted file.

3 .

9

Indexing — Manual.

3.10 Thesaurus — There is a thesaurus used for input quality control

and also for searching from remote consoles. There are five

cross-references being defined: broader term, narrower term,

related term, use and use for.

3.11 Input Data Editing £ Validation — Yes, there is a thesaurus file

used for input quality control.

3.12 Linkage to User Code — No.

H. USER INTERFACE

^.1 Data Description Language — RECON/STIMS has a data definition

facility. There are two sets of tables: file description table

and field description tables.

M-.2 Query Language — There are two query languages: batch-mode

queries and on-line queries. In the on-line system, it is possible

to search only by using inverted index terms as part of the query.

In the batch-mode search, one may use not only the inverted index

terms but any field in the record. The following is the description of the on-line query language:

Device — CRT, keyboard.

Language Type — Command type with verbs followed by list of

parameters

.

63
RECON/STIMS (Continued)

Arithmetic Capability — None

.

Boolean Logic for Selection — All of the logical connectors.

Selection via Ranges of Value — Yes

.

Invocation of Predefined Queries — Queries may not be predefined

and kept for the on-line (RECON) system, however, the

facilities exist in the batch (STTMS) system.

Sample — Sample system commands consist of "EXPAND", "SELECT",

"COMBINE", "DISPLAY", "PRINT", "TYPE", "KEEP", "END

SEARCH", "LIMIT", etc.

M- . 3 Output Report Language — It is part of the query language. The

output contains microfiche location codes and the microfiche

documents may be retrieved manually.

Device — Teletypewriter, display station.

Language Type — Same as query language.

Prestored Format — There exists a list of standard output formats.

The user may modify only one of these formats for his own

special use.

On-line or Off-line Print Command . — Yes

.

Sort Specification — It is not possible to sort the output of an on-line query but sorting may be specified using batched

query. ,

M-.M- Maintenance S Update Language — There is no on-line file maintenance. However, it is possible to do updating simultaneously with

searching by submitting maintenance in the background. There

exist lock-out bits in a record to prohibit access to a record

while updating. Language form is unknown.

j4 . 5 Browsing Language — Citations, abstracts or full text may be

scanned on the CRT. Command language allows paging through a

document or skipping to next retrieved item.

64
RECON/STIMS (Continued)

5. INTERNAL ORGANIZATION

5.1 Data Base — There are two sets of files: the linear file which

is the main file ordered by accession number, and the inverted

files. NASA has 5 inverted files: descriptors, authors,

cooperative authors, report numbers, and contract numbers.

5 .

2

Data Structure — The record structure consists of a fixed length

header followed by a variable number of variable length fields.

Each field has a tag and a count associated with it. No hierarchy

is permitted in the record structure.

5 .

3

Storage Structure — The disk space is organized to permit

variable length logical records blocked equal to track size. At

the end of each block or record (if the record is bigger than one

track) there is an expansion area for record overflow. There are

indexes at the track and cylinder level plus an additinal master

index. Records within a track are packed and maintained in se- quential order.

OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS

6.1 Data Access Method — NASA has programmed its own version of a

blocked, variable length ISAM (Index Sequential Access Method).

6 .

2

Search Strategies — Index sequential search of inverted files.

6 .

3

Update Facilities — It is possible to update in a batch mode in

the background while searches are being conducted in the foreground.

6.M- Response Time

6.M-.1 Search Response — With 15 terminals running, the response

Is approximately 15 to 20 seconds.

6.1.2 Update Time — It takes 0.06 seconds to change a field in

an existing record.

6 . 5 Space — The system imposes no maximum record size. The inverted

indexes in the current file occupy about one-sixth of the space

devoted to the main file. There are now 750,000 accessions in the

file requiring approximately 800 bytes each.

ft U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1 971 —Wl -326/81

65
FORM NBS-114A (1-71) U.S. DEPT. OF COMM. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

SHEET

1. PUBLICATION OR REPORT NO. NBS TN-5992. Gov't Accession No.3. Recipient's Accession No.

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE A Survey of Selected Document Processing Systems5. Publication Date October, 1971

6. Performing Organization Code

7. AUTHOR(S)

Elizabeth Fong

8. Performing Organization

10. Project/Task/Work Unit No. 6401137

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20234

11. Contract/Grant No.

12. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address

Same as No. 9.

13. Type of Report & Period Covered Final

14. Sponsoring Agency Code

15. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

16. ABSTRACT (A 200-word or less factual summary of most significant information. If document includes a significant bibliography or literature survey, mention it here.) There are many document processing systems that are commercially available or government-owned. These systems emerged in the evolution from early efforts in

library _ automation to current on-line systems. Due to the diverse nature of the

facilities provided in the document processing systems, it is difficult to evaluate them. The purpose of this paper is to present a list of features as a set of dimensions along which to compare the surveyed systems. The feature list

is also developed to serve as a common basis for describing document processing

systems. Another purpose of this paper is to provide a reference tool for the

eight systems surveyed. They are CIRCOL, DDC TTIRC, The Mead Data Central,

MEDLARS II, New York Times Information Bank, OREIT II, and RECON/STIM. This

paper first explored the characteristics of available, large document processing

systems in general. An overview of the eight systems surveyed is presented.

The paper then defines the feature list. The description of the eight systems

surveyed according to the feature list outline is included as an Appendix.

17. KEY WORDS (Alphabetical order, separated by semicolons) o-J ki t^^^-TM!,-; -, j- oiDliographi c system; computer package;

data base; document processing; information retrieval; document storage and retrieval;

text; text processing.

18. AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

[3 UNLIMITED.

I I FOR OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION. DO NOT RELEASE

TO NTIS.

19. SECURITY CLASS

(THIS REPORT)

UNCLASSIFIED

20. SECURITY CLASS

(THIS PAGE)

UNCLASSIFIED

21. NO. OF PAGES

67

22. Price

65?;

USCOMM-DC 66244-P71
NBS TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS

PERIODICALS NONPERIODICALS

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH reports National

Bureau of Standards research and development in

physics, mathematics, chemistry, and engineering.

Comprehensive scientific papers give complete details of the work, including laboratory data, experimental

procedures, and theoretical and mathematical analyses. Illustrated with photographs, drawings, and

charts.

Published in three sections, available separately:

• Physics and Chemistry

Papers of interest primarily to scientists working in these fields. This section covers a broad range of

physical and chemical research, with major emphasis on standards of physical measurement, fundamental

constants, and properties of matter. Issued six times a year. Annual subscription: Domestic, $9.50; $2.25

additional for foreign mailing.

• Mathematical Sciences

Studies and compilations designed mainly for the mathematician and theoretical physicist. Topics in mathematical statistics, theory of experiment design,

numerical analysis, theoretical physics and chemisty, logical design and programming of computers

and computer systems. Short numerical tables. Issued

quarterly. Annual subscription: Domestic, $5.00;

$1.25 additional for foreign mailing.

• Engineering and Instrumentation

Reporting results of interest chiefly to the engineer

and the applied scientist. This section includes many

of the new developments in instrumentation resulting

from the Bureau's work in physical measurement,

data processing, and development of test methods.

It will also cover some of the work in acoustics,

applied mechanics, building research, and cryogenic

engineering. Issued quarterly. Annual subscription:

Domestic, $5.00; $1.25 additional for foreign mailing.

TECHNICAL NEWS BULLETIN

The best single source of information concerning the Bureau's research, developmental, cooperative, and

publication activities, this monthly publication is designed for the industry-oriented individual whose

daily work involves intimate contact with science and

technology

for engineers, chemists, physicists, re- search managers, product-development managers, and

company executives. Annual subscription: Domestic,

$3.00; $1.00 additional for foreign mailing.

Applied Mathematics Series. Mathematical tables, manuals, and studies.

Building Science Series. Research results, test methods, and performance criteria of building materials, components, systems, and structures.

Handbooks. Recommended codes of engineering

and industrial practice (including safety codes) de- veloped in cooperation with interested industries,

professional organizations, and regulatory bodies.

Special Publications. Proceedings of NBS conferences, bibliographies, annual reports, wall charts,

pamphlets, etc.

Monographs. Major contributions to the technical

literature on various subjects related to the Bureau's

scientific and technical activities.

National Standard Reference Data Series.

NSRDS provides quantitative data on the physical

and chemical properties of materials, compiled from

the world's literature and critically evaluated.

Product Standards. Provide requirements for sizes, types, quality, and methods for testing various industrial products. These standards are developed co- operatively with interested Government and industry

groups and provide the basis for common understanding of product characteristics for both buyers and

sellers. Their use is voluntary.

Technical Notes. This series consists of communications and reports (covering both other agency and

NBS-sponsored work) of limited or transitory interest.

Federal Information Processing Standards

Publications. This series is the official publication

within the Federal Government for information on

standards adopted and promulgated under the Public

Law 89—306, and Bureau of the Budget Circular A—86

entitled, Standardization of Data Elements and Codes

in Data Systems.

Consumer Information Series. Practical information, based on NBS research and experience, covering

areas of interest to the consumer. Easily understandable language and illustrations provide useful background knowledge for shopping in today's technological marketplace.

NBS Special Publication 305, Supplement 1, Publications of the NBS, 1968-1969. When ordering, include Catalog No. CI 3. 10: 305. Price $4.50;

$1.25 additional for foreign mailing.

Order NBS publications from

:

Superintendent of Documents

Government Printing Office

Washington, D.C. 20402
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Bureau of Standards

Washington. D.C. 20234

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

Penalty for Private Use, $300

POSTAGE AND FEES PAID

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE